


The Edge of the Blade

by Chesra



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Space Opera
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2018-11-22 04:07:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 51,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11372244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chesra/pseuds/Chesra
Summary: Keith and Shiro of the Blade of Marmora are tasked to set up an Alliance with the Altean kingdom in the midst of the war with Zarkon and the Galra Empire. The Princess of Altea may not be sympathetic to their cause, but someone else in the Royal Family just might be.(the blade of marmora!keith + altean!lance au)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ahahaha so remember that altean!lance AU i cooked up months ago inspired by [this gorgeous fanart](http://rachelhuey88.tumblr.com/post/156338292325/in-another-life-give-me-lots-of-pining-give-me)? a lot of people on tumblr asked me if i was going to continue it, and i was always vague on replies, because i didn't want to commit to something with so much world-building involved, and neither did i want to end up with an unfinished work, so i figured eh, the snippet is fine 
> 
> but!! this!!!! wouldn't leave me alone!!! until i actually sat down and made a pretty solid outline on this monster. i literally had to convince myself i was ready enough to tackle a multi-chapter longfic monstrosity (which I have not done in ages, tbh) without fear of losing steam or losing interest in writing it midway :) So here we are. I hope you stick with me for the next few parts of the pining klance space opera! 
> 
> also u guys get two chapters in one go bc the first is pretty much a rehash of the [one](https://cheselle.tumblr.com/post/156393957133/so-uh-im-having-an-emotional-crisis-since) posted on tumblr :D

His fists were clenched on the entire ride to Altea. Shiro laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. “At ease, soldier,” he said softly. Keith relaxed, though he still could not unball his hands. He was terrified of ruining their first diplomatic mission.

 

Forming an alliance with Altea had always been their goal. He’d been part of the Blade of Marmora since he’d been born, growing in a constricted space filled with ever-changing faces that he secretly glimpsed over the masks. They worked quietly, going from one planet to another, hopeful that their cautious dissent would reach the Altean kingdom. No one was meant to endure a life of Zarkon’s tyranny. Many Galra believed and died for their cause. Keith had always known one day he’d die for it too. Their fight was endless and fraught. Any moment, spies could be discovered and killed. The rebellion could be snuffed out, in an instant.

 

But they had some wins - they’d freed prisoners from Galra warships; liberated several colonies. Shiro had been one of them; a human subject to Galra experimentation, barely alive when they’d recovered him. Keith had stared at him for days, half in shock at seeing someone like him for the first time. _He’s from Earth,_ Ulaz had told him. _The planet were were found you._

 

Keith had latched onto him since that day. Shiro eventually recovered and proved willing to join the the Blade, ready to lay down his life in the fight against Zarkon.

 

And now, after so long, they had finally made contact with Altean intelligence.

 

Ulaz had deemed Shiro and Keith as the least likely to incur the Alteans’ hostility, especially with the recent attack on the kingdom by Zarkon’s fleet, and sent them for first contact. The Altean kingdom had survived, just barely, but the esteemed King Alfor had not. The universe had mourned. His death was a blow for the resistance. But his eldest daughter, Princess Allura, had stepped up in his place, and was prepared to continue the battle in his stead.

 

“They may hate us,” Ulaz had warned. “And they will be suspicious. We must convince them we are on their side.” Shiro had nodded. Keith was no stranger to being hated, so that was no issue. But he had no experience speaking in behalf of the Blade of Marmora. He could engage in hand-to-hand combat, he could spy on enemy grounds, he could pilot a fighter jet. But to negotiate? He was out of his element. Fortunately, Shiro’s presence kept him steady. He breathed through his nose. Shiro was here with him. Everything would be fine.

 

They soon entered Altean atmosphere. The comms beeped, requesting for their identification. Shiro replied, enunciating clearly. Keith kept his hand on the controls, mid-brake, worried they’d be shot down. After an excruciating minute of silence, they were given permission to land.

 

They were greeted by several Altean soldiers upon disembarking. A man with red hair stepped up in front of them. “The Blade of Marmora, yes?” he said, doubtfully.

 

Shiro nodded respectfully. “At your service.”

 

The man eyed them carefully, leaning close. Keith stiffened at the scrutiny. Did he smell weird? Not for the first time, he wished they were allowed to keep their masks on. But Ulaz had decided they had to give a show of faith to the Altean princess. It was a risk they had to take.

 

The man nodded to the soldiers, and then he turned to Shiro and Keith. “All right then, follow me.” Before them was the Castle of Lions, the legendary Altean warship. Keith had never thought he’d see the day he would see it up close, much less enter it. They were led past endless silver hallways. Keith glimpsed of several Alteans scurrying past, avoiding their eyes. Keith didn’t blame them. The entourage of soldiers would frighten anyone.

 

He saw someone about his height walk past, his stride proud and unwavering. Unlike the others, he didn’t swerve to avoid them, simply walking head on, undisturbed by their presence. His skin was a deep, dark brown, while his hair was a shocking contrast of white. But what kept Keith staring was his eyes. They were shockingly, amazingly blue. Keith had never seen anyone with eyes like that before. For a moment their eyes met, and the boy blinked at him.

 

“What are those ears?” he said, his nose scrunched.

 

Keith resisted the urge to clap his hands over his ears in mortification. People in the Marmora base asked him that all the time, disgusted by their round shape. He’d been insecure of them all his life. Thank goodness for Shiro, who shared the same ear shape.

 

“Now, now, Lance,” The red-haired man admonished. “That isn’t any way to talk to our visitors!”

 

Lance pouted. “I was just asking! They look so _weird!_ ” He stuck out his tongue and kept on walking in the opposite direction. Keith hung his head, keeping his eyes trained on the floor miserably. He felt Shiro touch him lightly on the shoulder, and instinctively he stilled himself. He looked up; the soldiers were drawing open towering white doors. Keith blinked at the light, his skin crawling at how endlessly bright it was.

 

They were ushered into the room. At the end of the high table sat Princess Allura, the current ruler of Altea.

 

“Greetings,” she said formally. She was dressed in battle gear. She did not smile.

 

Shiro bowed. “It is an honor to have an audience with you, Princess Allura. The Blade of Marmora is at your service.”

 

“You’re not Galra,” she stated. Keith tensed at the venom in her tone.

 

“No,” Shiro replied. “I’m not. My companion here, Keith, is part Galra. The Blade of Marmora represents the Galra resistance, but we have allies spread far and wide.”

 

Allura’s eyes turned to Keith at Shiro’s statement. “What are you, then?” she asked, the question directed to Shiro though she maintained the gaze on Keith. Her stare was damning. Keith fought the urge to look away.

 

“I’m from Earth,” Shiro said. “But I don’t see how this would matter to you.”

 

Allura laughed hollowly. “Everything matters to me. What is your name?”

 

Shiro introduced himself. Allura pursed her lips, and then finally held out her hand. “Then, Shiro, of the Blade of Marmora, please convince me why I should trust you.”

 

It was the most agonizing half hour Keith had ever been through. If this was what it meant to be an emissary, then Keith would never laugh at Ulaz ever again. He was itching to reach for his knife, hidden away in his suit. The feel of it would calm him. But the Princess would probably not appreciate such a thing - or worse, she’d misunderstand it, and they’d be locked in Altean prison cells for the rest of their lives. Shiro did not deserve such a thing.

 

“You must understand,” Shiro was saying. “Zarkon may be Galra, but he does not represent all the Galra. There are many who do not agree with his rule. The Blade is ready to stand by your side.”

 

Princess Allura stared at him, eyes flickering to his prosthetic arm. Her gaze was piercing. “You have suffered from the hands of Galra,” she said.

 

“Yes,” Shiro said. Then, unexpectedly, he put his hand on Keith. “And yet it was also Galra who saved me. Keith himself pulled me out of a Galra warship.”

 

The princess turned to him. Keith swallowed, his throat dry. Shiro was also looking at him encouragingly. Slowly, he began to recall the story of how they helped Shiro escape. “He’s not the only one,” he added hoarsely, once he was done. “We’ve been going to prison camps, freeing them and giving arms to those willing to join the fight. We have men inside of Zarkon’s commanding army, sabotaging where we can. We’re doing our best.”

 

“And yet, your best cannot stop him.”

 

“No,” Shiro agreed, before Keith could argue, incensed in behalf of the Blade. He wanted, desperately, for the Princess to understand how they lived in constant fear. How their betrayal made them outsiders to everyone. He believed in his cause and yet this Princess, the symbol of the galaxy’s hope, refused to trust them. “Alone, we cannot stop Zarkon. But together with the Altean kingdom, we might stand a chance. You have Voltron.” The legendary weapon that everyone whispered around. The universe’s last hope.

 

Something in Allura’s expression snapped. Beside her, the red haired man’s eyes widened. “Voltron,” she said, her voice cracking. “And how do you propose we use Voltron when my father, the paladin of the Red Lion, is _dead_?”

 

\--

 

Keith stumbled out to the Altean castle grounds, relief flooding his system at finally, finally being free from the Princess’ cruel gaze. He’d known that there would be animosity, but not like this. She bled him and Shiro dry until they were exhausted. Keith wanted to scream. He hated feeling helpless like this.

 

He exhaled shakily, pacing. After the meeting, the Princess had nodded stiffly and requested they remain in the castle until she came to her decision. Shiro had agreed, and now they were Altean guests for the time being. Funny how it only seemed like a fancy word for prisoners. They sent word to the Blade of this arrangement, and then they were free for the rest of the day. Keith shook off the soldier following him, uncomfortable with supervision. He hoped that wouldn’t come off as suspicious. The last thing he needed was to start a diplomatic incident.

 

He found the gardens soon enough, framed with towering trees and filled with flowering shrubs. He always thought it strange that there were mobile plant-based organisms as well as non-mobile ones throughout the galaxy, and that the former were decorative for other alien species. Every time Keith went to a different planet he was always surprised how unique each place really was - even to their plant life. Keith liked spending his time among them, especially the ornamental ones. For one, they didn’t try to talk to him.

 

Keith wasn’t much for conversation. He’d grown up in the headquarters all his life, in a tiny base in the middle of two black holes. He asked Kolivan sometimes to describe the Galra planet, but their commander was blunt, and often occupied with work. Shiro was more lenient, often speaking of Earth with hopeless nostalgia. Keith wondered if he’d ever see it. The Blade of Marmora had recovered him from Earth when he was a baby, and rarely mentioned his birthgiver. His mother was an enigma that Keith had many questions about that went unanswered.

 

Keith also had just as many questions about his home planet - Shiro had said people there looked like him. He couldn’t imagine it. Before Shiro, he’d always thought he was the only one like him in the universe.  Keith hoped one day to see Earth with his own eyes, even just once.

 

There was a rustle in the trees, and Keith stiffened. A shadow emerged, and Keith slipped into a defensive stance immediately, reaching for his knife. Was it an intruder?

 

White hair poked through, with a bit of grumbling. “You’d think they’d loosen up,” he was muttering. Then he stopped at sight of Keith. “Oh,” he said, mouth falling open. Then he brightened. “Hey, weird ears!”

 

Keith’s face flamed. “My ears aren’t weird!” he snapped, gesturing at him. He realized his mistake soon enough, when the Altean - what was his name again? - backed away, eyes wide. His knife was in his hand.

 

Horror iced his veins. No. He’d scream for help, and they’d think he was attacking this Altean. No no no _no._ He lowered his hand, holding out the other in a weak attempt at being non-threatening. “I’m not - ” he began wildly.

 

“Holy quiznak!” The Altean yelled. Keith cringed. Shiro would be so disappointed. He needed to control this situation, now. He’d apologize, beg for forgiveness, and hope to hell the Princess Allura wouldn’t use this against the Blade of Marmora.

 

But the Altean, rather than run away screaming, just strode closer to him, until he was already at Keith’s side. “That is so cool!” He gestured at Keith’s hand. “Your knife is glowing!”

 

“Wh-what?”

 

The Altean was unperturbed. “Look! See! Glowing!” He reached for Keith’s knife, which Keith instinctively pulled it out of the stranger’s hands. The knife, reacting to his movement, became a blade, nearly cutting the Altean. Keith was going to have a heart attack.

 

“HOLY QUIZNAK!” The Altean yelled again. “That’s even cooler - what is that? Some really cool alien tech? Where did you get it?”

 

“My mother gave it to me,” Keith said dumbly. It was the only thing he had from her. He brandished the blade, and it went back to being a knife.

 

The Altean nodded. “A family heirloom! That is out of this world!” He grinned. “My dad gave me some cool weapons too. Look at this.” He drew out a round looking weapon. Keith was about to ask what it did, when the weapon glowed, and transformed into large gun. “Badass, right?”

 

Keith had to agree it _was_ cool. He nodded, tucking his knife away back into his suit. The Altean looked at him shrewdly. “Ohhh, a hidden weapon,” he cooed. “That definitely comes in handy. What’s your name, anyway?”

 

“Keith,” he replied.

 

The Altean grinned at him. “I’m Lance,” he said, and Keith remembered the name from earlier. He resolved not to forget. “Anyway, Keith, what are you doing here? Are you one of the competitors?”

 

“Competitors?” Keith asked, confused.

 

“You know! For the tournament!” Lance flailed his arms. “There’s so many ships coming in, I can barely keep track. There’s five million guards everywhere, I can’t even go check!” He crossed his arms and pouted.

 

Tournament? Ships? Keith had no idea what was happening. Why would Altea be holding some sort of contest amidst the war?

 

Lance grinned at him. “I bet you can fight, Mr. Weird Ears.”

 

Keith growled at him. “There’s nothing wrong with my ears!”

 

“Are you sure?” Lance peered at him. “I mean, they’re so different from mine! And all other aliens I’ve met so far have pointy ones too!” That was something Keith had noticed too. Maybe there _was_ something wrong with him. But he wasn’t going to admit it to Lance.

 

“I can hear just fine,” Keith said, folding his arms. “So my ears are perfectly normal, thank you.”

 

Lance shrugged. His own ears had several gold things pierced on them. The gold looked good against his brown skin. “Where are you from anyway? Balmera? Arus? Calum?”

 

Keith panicked, wondering what to reply, but Lance was still talking. “They’re  sending the best fighters all over the galaxy,” he said. “I’m so excited. I wanted to compete, but of course I’m not allowed. Coran wouldn’t even let me sign up. Like, it doesn’t matter, I’ll just be like a special combatant because I know I’m not allowed to win, but like, I could be a wild card, right? It would be cool! And then I might meet who the other paladins might be - ”

 

Keith had never been so confused his whole life. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said finally.

 

“Oh ho,” Lance said, winking at him. “You say that now, but I bet I’ll be seeing you on stage soon enough.” He switched into a fight stance. “Come on,” he said. “I wanna see you fight.”

 

Keith was bewildered. Was this part of Altean culture? Ulaz had instructed him and Shiro briefly on it. They were predominantly a peaceful race. But were displays of power a diplomatic tactic? Or was this Lance simply an anomaly? Either way... “I’m not going to fight you,” he said.

 

Lance rolled his eyes. “It’s not a real fight,” he said. “You’re just going to show me what you can do.”

 

“Lance-” he started, but then the Altean launched a kick at him. Keith tensed, blocking it with one hand, crouching low.

 

Lance grinned. “Yeah, like that!” He began his offense, a series of complicated kicks and jabs. Keith remembered what Ulaz had told him; for a peaceful race, Alteans were taught at an early age the importance of strength. And Lance _was_ strong; behind each strike was pure power.

“That all you got?” Lance taunted as Keith deflected each attack.

 

Keith gritted his teeth. “Lance-” he narrowly avoided a hit on his chest. “Lance!” he shouted, grabbing to twist his arm. Lance flailed; a feint, Keith discovered, after Lance kicked his legs below him, making Keith nearly hit the ground. He rolled just in time, recovering on his knees as Lance pulled back.

 

The Altean stretched. “You’re a bore, Keith,” he said, his grin smug. “You wouldn’t last a day in the galaxy, fighting Galra.”

 

Keith growled. This guy had no idea what he was talking about. Keith survived the Galra every single day. “You’re the one who wouldn’t make it,” he snarled, and he lunged at Lance. He saw the blue eyes narrow in delight, and soon they were trading blows.

 

Keith had never felt adrenaline pump through him like this. Often he was fighting for something on the line; gunning enemy fighter ships, slashing Galra sentries. He was always thinking, one mistake, and it was all over. But this - this wasn’t training in the Blade of Marmora base, which was relentless and unforgiving. This was a spar, both friendly and competitive at the same time, and for once he felt a smile lighting his face as slammed his elbow towards Lance’s stomach.

 

Lance doubled over. Keith stepped back, nervous of having hurt him for real, when Lance barreled at him suddenly, ignited with more fervor. “That’s more like it!” He crowed, and he was actually laughing. Keith realized the Altean was having fun, followed by the realization that he was, too. Even sparring with Shiro had never made him feel this way.

 

Lance reached for his shoulder, but Keith anticipated it. He feinted to the left, grabbing Lance’s wrist, and, mimicking Lance’s earlier move, swinging his legs under him. He slammed Lance to the ground as carefully as he could, feeling guilty about his white clothing. “Give up?”

 

Lance twisted his head to look up at him, his eyes shining. “Never,” he said cheerfully. Keith wondered if he should let Lance up, or let him suffer for a few more ticks with his face on the ground.

 

“What the quiznak do you think you’re doing?!” A voice thundered over them, and Keith released Lance’s wrist in surprise. He turned, just in time for four Altean soldiers to throw themselves at him. A hand actually connected with his face. Keith gasped at the pain, shocked.

 

They dragged him, restraining his hands. Keith was too shocked to struggle. He looked up face-to-face with Princess Allura, fury written all over her face.

 

“Attacking one of the Royal Family,” she shouted. “I knew I was wrong to trust you Galra.” Behind her, Shiro and the red haired man from earlier were hurrying over, stepping behind Princess Allura’s side. Shiro’s eyes were wide and confused. The red haired man’s expression mirrored Shiro’s.

 

“You will be put in the cells,” she continued, her voice shaking in anger. “You and the Blade of Marmora will never be welcome to our Alliance.”

 

Her words took time to sink in. Keith just stared, horrified. What had he done? They’d been wrong to send him. He’d ruined everything. All they’d worked for was over. He was a disgrace, a disaster.

 

“Wait. WAIT!” He saw a blur of blue rushing up to his feet, and then Lance was beside Keith, dusting away his clothing. “What are you doing?”

 

Princess Allura turned to him. “Are you alright, Lance?”

 

“Am I alright - I’m fine!” Lance said, his voice loud. “Let Keith go. I said, let Keith go!” He repeated, when the soldiers didn’t react to his first statement. The hands restraining him released him, though the soldiers didn’t step away.

 

“He was attacking you,” Princess Allura cried.

 

“We were sparring,” Lance argued. “There’s a difference. Anyway, _I_ asked him to fight with me. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

 

Behind Princess Allura, Shiro raised his eyebrow at Keith. “Keith, is that true?”

 

Keith nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

 

“Even so-” Princess Allura started. “He shouldn’t have agreed. You’re-”

 

“I’m?” Lance said, his tone indicating that this line of thought was dangerous.

 

Princess Allura’s face reddened, but she stood her ground. “You’re the Crown Prince of Altea,” she said. “You are not to engage in such things.”

 

Keith stared, unseeing. The Crown Prince of Altea. He had attacked _the Crown Prince of Altea._ If he thought he was fucked earlier, then it was nothing compared to how he felt now. If an Altean guard skewered him at this moment he’d welcome his death with open arms. That was exactly what he deserved.

 

Lance inhaled noisily. “You have got to stop treating me like a kid, sis,” he said. “You hated it when Father did that to you; don’t do it to me now.”

 

“But-” Princess Allura looked lost. “This is-” she sighed. “You’re right,” she said finally. “I apologize, I simply overreacted. But you can’t fault me for that,” she added, upon seeing Lance’s smug grin. “I have every right to be worried. This is Galra we’re talking about.”

 

Lance frowned. “What?”

 

Keith wanted to sink to the ground. All that easy camaraderie he’d had with Lance would be lost once he found out he was Galra. He didn’t want Lance to look at him like Princess Allura did; with hate in his eyes. He looked down, terrified of the look on Lance’s face once he found out. Maybe he’d let Keith be thrown to the cells after all.

 

He heard Princess Allura say it. There was a moment of silence.

 

“Wait wait wait,” Lance said incredulously. “ _You’re_ Galra?”

 

Keith’s ears burned. He didn’t dare look up.

 

“He can’t be Galra, he’s not purple!” Lance flailed. “And he has weird ears. Galra don’t have ears like that!”

 

He could hear a short snicker which sounded suspiciously like Shiro. Keith glanced up, meeting his eyes. Shiro had turned his face away, though he looked less worried than he was the last few minutes.

 

“Regardless, Keith _is_ Galra,” Princess Allura repeated. Lance whirled on Keith, crossing past all the soldiers to look at him. He stared down at Keith with his blue, blue eyes. Keith wanted to simultaneously look away and also stare into them forever. He didn’t know what to do.

 

“My mother is Galra,” Keith forced himself to say. “My father is...well. Supposedly he’s from Earth, like Shiro, but no one knows for sure.”

 

Lance frowned. “But you’re not purple.”

 

“No.”

 

“Or furry.”

 

“No!” Keith repeated, a little louder than expected. The fur was an extra sore spot for him, just like his ears.

 

Lance shrugged. “Then, as far as I’m concerned, he’s not Galra,” he announced. “He’s like, a spork. Sporks aren’t spoons or forks. You can’t lump him into one utensil category!”

 

Keith had a moment to feel outraged at being compared to a food eating tool. Judging by Princess Allura’s expression, she felt the same.

 

“Lance,” she said, a touch exasperated.

 

“Ah, ah, no,” Lance said, wagging his fingers at her. “Don’t ‘Lance,’ me, sis. My logic is sound. Right, Coran?” He winked at the red haired man, who was fiddling with his moustache.

 

“Well,” Coran said carefully. “I suppose you have a slight point there.”

 

“See? Coran agrees with me!” He threw his arm around Keith. The sudden weight was like a shock of warmth to his system. “Ok, now you guys all move along,” he said to the Altean soldiers. “And seriously, can we get a healer here? This looks nasty,” he said, waving at Keith’s face.

 

One of the soldiers hesitated, and then left to obey. Slowly the others backed away to a respectful distance, leaving Keith alone with Lance, Shiro, Princess Allura, and Coran.

 

“So are you part Galra too?” Lance said, turning to Shiro.

 

Shiro shook his head. “I’m afraid not, Prince Lance,” he said. “I’m a full Earthling.”

 

Lance waved his hand. “Please, don’t call me that,” he said. “I haven’t earned it. My sister here is the only one who gets to be called the royal title.”

 

Princess Allura heaved a sigh. “Lance,” she said warningly. Then she turned to Keith. “I truly apologize,” she said, her eyes downcast. “That was...unjust of me.”

 

“It’s fine,” Keith managed. His throat felt less strangled now. Lance’s arm was still around his shoulder. “I shouldn’t have - I didn’t know.”

 

“My brother here is very persistent,” Princess Allura continued, with a sharp gaze at Lance. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he pestered you into a fight.” Lance laughed nervously at that.

 

“He’s a good fighter,” Lance said brightly. “Not as strong as me, but pretty good.” Keith rolled his eyes at that.

 

“I had you pinned on the ground,” he reminded him.

 

“I was going easy on you,” Lance told him, grinning. “You’d never win against me on a real fight.”

 

“Yeah?” Keith said.

 

Lance looked at him, his eyes still shockingly blue. “Yeah,” he affirmed, folding his arms. “I’d like to see you try.”

 

Shiro coughed. “Then it’s a good thing we’ll be fighting on the same side, then,” he said. “Your strength will be better working with each other than against.”

 

Keith caught his breath. He’d forgotten, again. He kept forgetting every time Lance talked to him. He didn’t know why it kept happening. He was here as the Blade of Marmora. He shouldn’t let Lance’s little comments get under his skin.

 

“The same side, huh?” Lance said. “I’m excited to see that. Sis, are they going to participate in the tournament?”

 

Princess Allura folded her arms. “Perhaps,” she said.

 

“What tournament?” Shiro asked, his eyebrows furrowed. So Shiro didn’t know either. At least Keith was glad he wasn’t the only one left in the dark.

 

The princess sighed. “That was what I was debating on,” she said. “But I suppose you two can be trusted - for now,” she said pointedly, with a gaze at Keith.

 

Coran cleared his throat. “We’ll be holding a tournament here in two days’ time,” he explained. “All fighters from the galaxy who are part of our cause against the Galra are invited.”

 

“This is the tournament where we decide,” Princess Allura continued, her mouth a firm line, “on who will have the honor of being the new paladin of the Black Lion of Voltron.”


	2. Chapter 2

The concept of the tournament was simple: Contenders would display their strengths and abilities to the crowd. It wasn’t a matter of simply winning, Allura had informed them. The lions chose their own pilots. Even if a person defeated all the other contenders, there was no guarantee that the Black Lion would choose them.

 

“The Lions will be watching, of course,” Lance told them cheerfully. He had followed them to the quarters the Alteans had provided for them, and was now supervising a healer touching Keith’s skin. The pain and the swelling died away upon contact. Keith marveled at such healing magic. Galra was proficient in technology, but Altean magic was on a different level. “So honestly, you’re showing off more to the Black Lion more than anything else.”

 

Shiro was sitting on a chair beside the bed. He frowned, crossing his arms. “But I thought it was the Red Lion who lost its paladin,” he said quietly.

 

For a tick, Lance’s cheery demeanor vanished. Keith imagined how painful it must be for him to see the Lions; a constant reminder of his father. “We lost the paladin for the Black Lion, too,” he said softly. “And that’s far more important. The Black paladin, he’s the leader. He’s the one who will lead the team to form Voltron.”

 

“But why not just choose from the Alteans?” Keith asked, curious.

 

Lance laughed somberly. “You think we haven’t tried? We presented everyone. The Black Lion didn’t react to a single one. Anyway, Red and Allura have a bond already. She was always meant to follow in Father’s footsteps. But even then, it took time for Red to let her her in.”

 

“It’s difficult for the Lions to find someone new,” Lance continued. “It’s like finding a new master. It’s hard for them to accept it at so short a time. I don’t blame them. Each bond with their paladin is irreplaceable,” he said. “You can’t just go in and pilot the Lions. They have to earn each other’s respect.”

 

Shiro nodded, mulling it over. “It sounds very serious,” he said.

 

“It is,” Lance said. “And it’s a great honor. Voltron is the universe’s strongest weapon.” The healer, who was done fussing over Keith, nodded and stepped out of the quarters. Lance relaxed on his chair. “Are you two going to join?” he asked eagerly, once the door had closed.

 

Shiro and Keith exchanged looks.

 

“With all due respect, Lance, I don’t think this is meant for us,” Shiro said. “We’re here to build an alliance with your kingdom, and we want to support any way we can. But piloting Voltron seems over our area of expertise.”

 

Lance nodded. “That makes sense,” he said, and there was touch of admiration to his tone that Keith didn’t fail to catch. Keith didn’t blame him. Shiro was made to be admired. In the short time he had joined the Blade of Marmora, he managed to earn everyone’s respect. 

 

“Will you at least stay to watch, then?” Lance said. “There will be festivities. Not as extravagant as usual, but it’s a good cause to celebrate.” He brightened. “It’s to reform our alliances. With Galra rebels, included.” There was a hint of a grin in the twitch of his lips; Keith ducked his head, embarrassed. 

 

“We’ll stay as long as we’re welcome,” Shiro said, smiling. “And thank you for earlier, Lance. We really appreciate it.”

 

This time it was Lance’s turn to duck his head. “It was nothing,” he muttered. “And it was kind of my fault why it all happened, so.” He shot of his chair. “Join us for dinner later, ok?” he said, abruptly. “Hunk’s making us food - he’s the best, you haven’t tasted Altean food until you’ve eaten what he’s made, trust me!” 

 

He left after getting Shiro’s assurances, waving goodbye as he sailed out the door. 

 

“Well,” Shiro said once the Crown Prince of Altea had left their room. “That was something.”

 

Keith pulled his knees close to his chest and curled on the floor. 

 

“Keith?” Shiro said softly, leaning to sit beside him. “You ok?”

 

Keith opened his mouth, and then closed it several times. He closed his eyes, breathing hard. “I was terrified,” he said finally. “I thought I ruined everything, Shiro. I nearly got us killed.”

 

“That’s a wild exaggeration,” Shiro said, soothingly. “Lance clearly doesn’t harbor you any ill will.”

 

“I didn’t know he was the Prince!” Keith wailed. In retrospect, he should have known. There was a resemblance between Lance and the Princess, and the clothes he wore were far too regal compared to other Alteans. Keith was an idiot. He hadn’t been able to put two and two together.

 

“It wasn’t your fault,” Shiro said, patting him on the shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up over something out of your control.”

 

“I wasn’t going to hurt him,” Keith muttered. He’d never would have hurt Lance, regardless of who he was.

 

“I know you wouldn’t,” Shiro said, and his clear trust in Keith alleviated his anxiety somewhat. “You’re a good soldier, Keith. You’d never attack civilians even when provoked. In honesty, I think this incident will give Princess Allura something to think about. She’s not sympathetic to us, but her brother sees it differently. So it might be a good thing this all happened.” He smiled encouragingly at Keith.

 

Keith exhaled, slowly sitting up. “So you think I haven’t bombed my first shot at diplomacy?” he said hopefully.

 

Shiro laughed, the sound echoing in the room. “You’ve done your worst, buddy,” he said. “Though next time, don’t sneak out and leave me, okay?”

 

Keith nodded. He’d learned his lesson well enough.  

 

\--

 

There were dozens of aliens milling in the Altean grounds. Keith hasn’t seen such diversity in one place except in prisoner work camps. He wondered how many of them hated the Galra. Often they glanced over at Keith, curious about his clothing, but without the purple skin or the fur to give him away, nobody made the connection. Keith was glad. He was used to the mask keeping everyone out, and he felt strangely naked without it. 

 

“The mask will make people suspect more,” Shiro had said, after Keith had begged to wear it the night before. The idea of joining the festivities without it had made him anxious. “We don’t want to draw more attention than necessary.” 

 

“Our ears draw enough attention,” Keith had muttered. He’d seen several Alteans peering at him yesterday, some making motions to their own ears. If Keith could flatten his ears he probably would. 

 

Shiro had laughed. “If that’s the worst thing we have endure, so be it.” People had stared at Shiro too, but if it had been because of his ears or his prosthetic arm, Keith couldn’t say. But none of that was supposed to matter. He would just stay firmly by Shiro’s side throughout the whole thing. No more sneaking off and being lured into fights by stubborn Alteans.

 

Already people were gathering for the tournament at the open ground arena, a huge natural slope by the forest. Keith noticed the stark difference from the spectators, who were chattering incessantly as they walked, and the contenders, who were were dressed in armor and were marching directly to the center of the arena. 

 

He wondered if they were any good. Lance had said they would be the best fighters in the galaxy. Keith itched to see it. He always knew he could hold his own; he’d been trained by the strongest in the Blade, after all. He wished he could experience a competition with the best the universe had to offer.

 

He and Shiro joined the crowd. The place was already packed; all around, everyone jostled for seats good-naturedly. 

 

Shiro! Keith!” Lance’s friend, Hunk, waved them over to the front row. “I saved you guys some seats!” He yelled. Keith glanced at Shiro; unsure what to do. They’d only met Hunk once, at the previous night’s dinner. Like Lance, he was open and friendly, though decidedly more frank than Lance had ever been, with his various questions about the Blade. He clearly didn’t mean any offense with it, though, so Keith had slowly relaxed in his presence. But one meal didn’t make them anything more than acquaintances.

 

Shiro began to walk towards Hunk, and Keith gratefully kept up with him. If he’d been alone, he would have just looked away and pretended not to hear.

 

“Whew! This is going to be awesome, right?” Hunk grinned up at them, gesturing for them to sit beside him. “Everyone from the Voltron Alliance is here!”

 

“The Voltron Alliance?” Shiro asked, taking the offered seat. Keith slipped into the one beside his.

 

Hunk nodded. “That’s what we call it; all the planets who’ve pledged to support Altea in the fight against the Galra Empire,” he said confidingly. “Balmera’s part of it!” he added enthusiastically, gesturing to the alien beside him. She smiled at them. “This is my friend Shay. Shay, this is Shiro and Keith!”

 

“Hello,” she said, waving at them. “It’s nice to meet you. Where are you from?”

 

Keith and Shiro exchanged looks.

 

“They’re Galra rebels,” Hunk whispered conspiratorially. Keith’s eyes went as huge as Shay’s. 

 

“Oh!” She said. “But they don’t  _ look  _ Galra!”

 

“I know!” Hunk nodded. 

 

“It’s a long story,” Shiro said, offering a smile. “Maybe I can explain later. But we’re part of a resistance group formed by the Galra. We’ve been freeing prison camps throughout the galaxy.”

 

Shay’s mouth formed an o. “I think I’ve heard rumor about you,” she said. “Though, of course, everyone thinks it’s just a story. Galra helping other aliens out? It seems unlikely.”

 

“Well, it’s true,” Keith said before Shiro can reply. “We’re here to help fight Zarkon.”

 

If Shay was shocked by his rudeness, she didn’t show it. “That’s amazing,” she said, smiling. “I’m so glad. I always knew there was goodness in everyone, even in Galra.”

 

Keith looked away. He’d seen the wonder and fear in the prisoners they’d freed; confusion at being saved, anger at seeing Galra faces behind the masks. He knew he couldn’t ask them to be grateful. They were only correcting the wrong his race had done. And yet, faced with Shay’s honest optimism, he only felt guilt. They were in their every right to hate him. Zarkon had enslaved and killed countless of beings, the Altean king included. It was a wonder Lance and Hunk even chose to talk to him. 

 

Trumpets sounded. There were cheers from the crowd, and Keith turned to look at the stage. There were around thirty different aliens, all clad in armor, ranging from barely half of Keith’s height to three times his size. They came in all colors and skin trappings, too. It almost hurt to look as they clustered there, waiting as the Princess of Altea walked in the arena, to the roaring applause of the crowd.

 

“Good day, everyone,” Princess Allura began. “I am honored that you have all joined us here today in our fight against Zarkon and the Galra Empire. With our combined strength, we can retake what is ours and bring back to the universe the rightful peace. And we will do so,” she paused, throwing her hands out dramatically, “With Voltron!”

 

The ground began to shake. Keith watched, fascinated, as several holes opened. Giant rotating spheres floated up from the holes. He gasped at sight. He was not alone; the whole arena had grown silent in awe.

 

The legendary lions of Voltron. The five of them surrounded the contenders in a semi-circle; the black lion poised just behind Allura, a giant spectre looming. Just looking at them made Keith’s head spin. They were nothing like he’d imagined. 

 

“This is what will defeat Zarkon,” Shiro murmured, echoing Ulaz’s hopeful words before he had sent them out. He was just as awestruck as Keith.

 

“They’re amazing, aren’t they?” Hunk said, motioning to the lions. “I’m lucky to be part of the mechanics who maintain them,” he added proudly. “Coran is teaching me everything. These Lions are the greatest weapons in the universe. And what Allura said is true - with Voltron, we really can end Zarkon’s reign.”

 

“I don’t doubt it,” Shiro said. He clenched his human fist. “With this, we can keep the universe safe.”

 

Keith wondered what Shiro was thinking of. Was it Earth, his home planet that he couldn’t return to? Zarkon hadn’t touched it yet; there were little resources on Earth, and they weren’t advanced enough for space travel. But in time, Zarkon would take over everything, if no one stood in his way. Shiro probably wanted to stop him before anything else could happen.

 

On the stage, Allura was giving instructions to the contenders. It was going to be a free-for-all fight, allowing them to attack anyone amongst them. The only rules were there would be no killing or maiming; anyone who dared to do such a strike would be instantly disqualified and subject to Altean punishment. Contenders were free to surrender or give up at any moment. Anyone knocked out would be automatically out of the fight. The competition was finished once the Lion chose his pilot or until one fighter was left standing, whichever came first.

 

“That’s...pretty straightforward,” Keith said, as the challengers all bowed once the Princess had finished explaining the rules. It wasn’t what he was expecting. Shiro had told him how the Galra had forced him into a gladiator ring. Somehow Keith had imagined this fight to be in the same kind of tournament style.

 

Hunk shrugged. “It’s not really about winning, see? You have to know your strengths, if you’ll be the leader of Voltron. Rushing in isn’t always the right thing to do. Sometimes surrendering or retreating is the better option. That’s what the Black Lion will be looking for.”

 

“Is it different for the other Lions?” Shiro asked.

 

Hunk laughed. “Yeah. For the Green Lion, you have to be the most in-touch with nature. Alteans were camping out in the forests for weeks just to be noticed.” He grew serious. “Sometimes, the Lions call out to you ahead of time. Even when you’re still young, you can already hear them in your head.”

 

“They talk to you?” Keith said, eyebrows raised. 

 

“Yup!” Hunk nodded enthusiastically. “They’re sentient beings, these lions. Piloting them is a real experience.”

 

“You sound like you’ve done it before,” Shiro observed easily. Hunk blushed.

 

“I’ve piloted the Yellow Lion several times,” Hunk admitted. “In cases of emergency. We’ve bonded enough, with how often I’m around her. But I don’t think I want to be an actual pilot.” He shuddered. “I much prefer being an engineer. Our work is just as important.”

 

Shiro nodded. “Everyone has their role to play in this war.”

 

“Right?” Hunk grinned enthusiastically. “Now, if only Lance could get  _ that  _ in his head. He has all these delusions of being the best pilot in the universe - I mean, yeah, he’s pretty good, but that gets to his ego and he starts doing risky things - ”

 

At the mention of Lance’s name, Keith glanced around. The Altean prince was nowhere to be found. “Speaking of which, where  _ is  _ Lance?” he said. He had half-expected Lance to be there with Allura, supervising the tournament. If not, he’d be here on the stands with Hunk, hollering at the contenders. He’d certainly have much to say, Keith thought as he watched the different aliens attack each other in the arena. 

 

Hunk made a complicated expression. “Uh,” he said nervously. “He’s. Probably just around?”

 

That was decidedly vague coming from Hunk, who from the little time Keith had known him proved he was someone prone to descriptions and explanations. Keith frowned, but didn’t pry. Perhaps Lance was busy with other things. He was the Crown Prince of Altea, after all. Keith was already fortunate enough to be able to spend one dinner with him.

 

He watched the fighters carefully. They were all strong, that he could see, though some had advantages the others did not. There was a bird-like alien, circling their competitors from the air, swooping down when they saw an opening. There was another with six arms, grappling a lanky alien that lashed out with vines in their attack.

 

There was one wearing a brown hood, the face carefully covered. They moved swiftly, engaging in hand-to-hand combat. At the moment, they were facing the largest contender, a blueish alien with tusks protruding all over their skin.

 

It wasn’t long before Keith’s attention was solely on the hooded contender. He had expected them to be at a disadvantage with their size, but they seemed to be holding on their own. The other contender roared, getting down on all fours and bounding on them, but the hooded contender slid below them, striking at the legs and knocking the blue alien down to the ground.

 

The move was familiar. Keith wondered where he saw it. A memory of yesterday flickered in his mind, and then suddenly Keith knew. “That’s Lance!” he said, standing up in a panic. What was he doing there? It was dangerous; he could get hurt fighting those other aliens!

 

He turned to look at Hunk, who had hunched his shoulders. “Hunk!” He cried.

 

Hunk grimaced. “Like I said before, there’s really no stopping him when Lance puts his mind to things.”

 

“Is that okay?” Shiro asked, his eyes full of concern. Keith had half a mind to jump into the arena and drag Lance out. He glanced back; the blue alien was getting to their feet, and they did not look happy.

 

“Uh...that depends on your definition of ‘okay,’” Hunk started hesitantly. “Because if you mean ‘okay’ in a sense that ‘will Lance get out there unscathed’ then...” There was a roar from the crowds. Keith whipped his head. The blue alien was swinging his arms, cornering Lance. Keith’s pulse quickened.

 

He gritted his teeth. “Hunk!” 

 

Hunk raised his hands up. “This wasn’t my idea!” he said pleadingly. Keith watched in horror as the large contender slammed his arms against Lance. Keith cringed, terrified of Lance being skewered by those tusks. 

 

“We have to do something!” Keith yelled. He didn’t realize he was moving until he felt Hunk grab at his wrist. 

 

“Keith, calm down!” He said, pulling Keith back to his seat. “Lance is going to be fine. Trust me!”

 

“But that guy-” Keith bit his lip.

 

“Lance is stronger than he looks,” Hunk said, his grip tight. “I mean, you fought him, didn’t you?”

 

That was true. Lance might not look it, but there was definitely more behind that skinny frame. 

 

“And honestly?” Hunk shook his head, sighing. “That guy’s the last thing Lance needs to worry about, once his sister figures it out.”

 

Keith stared at the arena again. Lance was standing in front of the blue alien, panting. He had somehow knocked the alien down again, and it didn’t look like the blue alien would be getting up anytime soon. The crowd was cheering with approval. Lance had barely pumped his fist in the air when another contender surged up from behind him. Keith was yelling his name before he could stop himself.

 

Lance was knocked off his feet, but he recovered faster than Keith expected. He twisted around, firing shots with his weapon. The contender released him, and Lance grabbed the alien by the arm, throwing him across the arena.

 

“Amazing!” Shay cried out, clapping. Even Keith, with all the worry clouding his mind, felt the admiration rise in him. Hunk was right - Lance  _ was  _ stronger than he looked.

 

There were only half of the original number of competitors still standing now. Keith eyed the Princess; her face was blank, but Keith sensed a vague hint of exasperation in her eyes. Clearly she’d figured out that Lance had snuck in the competition even before Keith did. 

 

“Why did he even do this,” Keith muttered. 

 

Hunk, having heard him, laughed a little. “Lance thrives on this stuff. He’s been begging Allura to let him join the war battalion for months. Allura keeps telling him it’s not a game - but Lance knows that. He really, really does. He wants to know what it’s like to be in the heat of the battle, and he figured this would be the best way to practice. After all, the Galra aren’t going to hold back, right?”

 

“No, they won’t,” Shiro said, agreeing with Hunk. “The Galra Empire is ruthless. But going behind the back of his superior isn’t always a good thing. We have our orders, after all. I’m sure Princess Allura has her reasons for keeping him out of the fray.”

 

Hunk ducked his head. “Try telling that to Lance. Maybe he’ll listen to you.”

 

The tournament went on. The remaining contenders were even fiercer now. Keith kept one eye trained on Lance throughout, unable to tear himself away. Lance ducked to avoid several hits on both of his sides. Unlike his initial fighting, Lance was already choosing to distance himself, relying on his long-range weapon instead. Several fighters had noticed it, and were constantly closing in on the gap. Frustration welled up in Keith. He wanted to take his blade and get in there. It was less about wanting to participate in the battle and more about wanting to keep Lance safe. The Blade of Marmora were trained to be able to work with their fellow Blade in the battlefield. It was important to know how to fight by yourself, especially since solo missions were often, but it was also imperative to have someone else’s back, and vice versa. Every loss counted with their few numbers. Keith had spent half of his time fighting and the other half keeping whoever his partner was safe. 

 

Suddenly, the lions all roared. The sound shook the whole arena. Keith grabbed onto his seat, shocked by the vibrations.

 

“What’s happening?” he asked amid the noise.

 

“Are they choosing a pilot?” Shiro yelled, turning to Hunk. Hunk looked confused.

 

“If they were, only the Black Lion would respond!” Hunk yelled back. “I don’t know why they’re reacting like this!”

 

Keith glanced at the arena. The contenders had all stopped. His heart lurched when he caught sight of Lance; the Altean Prince had dropped to ground, his hand on his head. When he looked up, he saw Princess Allura also clutching her head. Coran was beside her, touching her shoulder.

 

“I’m going there,” Keith said suddenly. “There might be something wrong.”

 

“Keith, wait!” Shiro caught up to him as he raced for the steps leading down to the arena entrance. “I think I know what’s wrong,” he said grimly, and he raised up the communicator Kolivan had given them.

 

Shiro’s expression told Keith it was the worst possible thing. “The Galra?” 

 

“Worse,” Shiro said, his mouth a thin line. “Five Galra warships. All headed straight for Altea.”


	3. Chapter 3

They reported it to Princess Allura, but it turned out she had already known. The lions had sensed it, and had given their warning.

 

“There could have been a spy,” Allura said, rounding on them. “Someone who informed them of the tournament that would happen today.” The way her eyes glinted meant she suspected them. 

 

“We’re  _ not  _ spies,” Keith said immediately. “Why would we be running here to tell you if we were?”

 

“Perhaps this is just a complicated plan in hopes to gain our trust,” Princess Allura said sarcastically.

 

Shiro held up his hands. “Princess Allura, I know it might to be difficult to believe, but the Blade is here to support you. Say the word and we’ll have our fighter ships come to defend us.” It was a huge thing to promise. The Blade could not afford to openly come out and show Zarkon there were Galra rebels. For one, it could compromise their own spies in Zarkon’s army. Keith struggled with the terror and frustration warring inside him. 

 

The Princess pursed her lips. Beside her, Coran was reviewing the path of the warships. “They’ll be here in four vargas,” he said. “And Shiro’s right; there are indeed five battle cruisers coming our way, all with Galra identifications.”

 

“Our base is monitoring them as we speak,” Shiro continued. “If you need information, we’ll provide it. We will do anything we can to help you.”

 

In the face of Shiro’s genuine earnest, Princess Allura softened. “Thank you, Shiro. You must understand; I cannot afford to let down my guard. The last attack has weakened us.” She clenched her fists. “Another, and this may be the end of Altea - and all who oppose Zarkon.”

 

For a tick Keith saw the Princess as she truly was; struggling to step up as a war leader in front of all these aliens she had gathered. She needed to be strong for everyone in spite of her own fears. “We’ll fight for you,” he said. “The ship we came in here is a fighter jet.” 

 

“Keith is the best pilot I know,” Shiro added, and Keith turned red at the pride in his voice. “I can stay here in the command center, if that’s your order. We can rally the troops. Surely the combatants you had gathered here can help withstand a Galra attack?”

 

Princess Allura bit her lip. “Yes, but there also the civilians,” she said. “We must relocate them immediately.” She turned to the Altean soldiers, and began to give her orders. Keith stepped back to the wall, trying to steady his breathing. They’ve never engaged this many warships at once. Often they disabled one before boarding it; the Blade had developed a virus that ruined the ship’s systems, and then they would go in and take it. But facing a warship in full power was surely suicide. What even if it were  _ five?  _

 

Lance burst into the room then, Hunk in tow. “Sis!” he yelled. “The Galra are coming!”

 

“I’m aware, Lance,” Princess Allura replied. 

 

Lance paced. “We have to fight,” he said. “We have to form Voltron.”

 

Princess Allura’s face was pale. “The Black Lion has not chosen its pilot, Lance,” she said, her voice quiet.

 

“I don’t care!” Lance rounded on her. “You’re the best leader there is. You can pilot him.”

 

His sister frowned. “Then who will pilot the Red Lion?” 

 

“Ugh!” Lance groaned, slapping his head. “Hunk, can’t you pilot the Red Lion?” he said, turning to his friend.

 

“Don’t look at me!” Hunk said, shaking his head. “Yellow’s a sweetheart, but Red is totally a different story.”

 

“Let’s work with what we have at the moment,” Shiro suggested. The siblings looked at him. “Can we account for all the battleships we have, including the one from other planets?” 

 

Princess Allura glanced at Coran, who nodded.

 

“I’ll speak to everyone,” Allura said. “They deserve to know. Broadcast me, Coran.”

 

Soon Princess Allura’s face was flashing all over the city. “Comrades! I must warn all of you. The Galra are coming, here to Altea.” There were gasps and screams. “There are Altean soldiers at the ready to help evacuate all civilians,” she continued. “All who are able and willing to help defend the universe, please remain at the arena. We will go over our battle plan there.”

 

The Princess cleared her throat. “We must fight. We must stay strong. Let us stand here, and show the Galra what the Voltron Alliance is truly made of!”

 

Keith watched her. The clear confidence shone in her voice. All over, the holos showed the civilians cheering, heartened by her words. How little they knew how terrified the Princess really was. And yet, it made Keith just as willing to fight for her cause. He wanted to help protect these people.

 

“Keith,” a voice said, and Keith looked up to see Lance standing over him.

 

“So, wow, huh,” Lance said, joining him to lean against the wall. “This day’s definitely going down in history.”   
  


He had a bloody lip from the fight earlier. There were several cuts on his cheek. “Why did you join the tournament?” Keith asked abruptly.

 

Lance blushed. “How’d you know that?” He had already changed from his earlier outfit. and was instead clad in a pilot suit. Keith wondered what sort of ship Lance piloted. 

 

“You think I wouldn’t have figured it out?” Keith asked, rolling his eyes. He lightly punched Lance’s arm, and was rewarded with a yelp. “I bet you’re all bruised under that,” he said.

 

Lance winced. “I’ll have it healed before going out,” he said. “I’m not stupid.”

 

“No,” Keith said. “Just reckless. And dumb. No wait; I take it back. You  _ are  _ stupid.” He felt, rather irrationally, how angry he was at Lance. No matter what Hunk said, it was a flimsy excuse. All that fighting was pointless; the Black Lion still hadn’t chosen his Paladin. 

 

Lance’s eyes were narrowed. “Harsh words.”

 

“I just-” Keith gestured at him. “You want a fight? Well, you have one now.” 

 

Lance was silent. Then he said, “You wouldn’t understand.”

 

“No, I don’t!” Keith shot back. “I’ve been fighting all my life, Lance.  _ All of it.  _ The minute I was born, I was there in the base, learning how to survive, because every day, every minute, I’m in danger. I don’t know what’s it like not to be in a war. I don’t live, Lance. I just survive.” He was breathing hard now. “My whole life has just been one long fight. So I have no idea why anyone would go out of their way looking for it.”

 

Lance was staring at him. Then, unexpectedly, he threw his arms around Keith. “Wha- Lance-” Keith stopped, frozen. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t even know what he’d done. Galra didn’t hug each other. Kolivan often awkwardly patted him on the head, and Antok occasionally punched him in the shoulder in a friendly way, but not since Shiro had anyone ever hugged him. The first time Shiro had done it, Keith had tried to grab him on the waist, thinking it was a training attack. Turned out it was how some species expressed affection.

 

Was Lance expressing affection now? But why? He had expected Lance to yell at him back. But not this.

 

“Quiznak, Keith,” Lance murmured against his neck. His breath was warm. Keith could feel his thoughts disconnecting, and he had no idea  _ why.  _ “I’m sorry that had to happen to you.”

 

“Uh,” Keith said.

 

When Lance pulled away, his eyes were starting to get teary. Keith panicked. That usually happened when he felt pain. Was Lance hurt? Had he hurt Lance with what he said? Or was this an Altean reaction? “Are you okay?” he asked.

 

“Am I okay - oh god,” Lance said, shaking his head. The water in his eyes seemed to clear up. “I should be asking you that question. You’re a walking sob story. Anyway, how old  _ are _ you? You don’t even remember a time before Zarkon?”

 

Keith shook his head. 

 

“You’re like, a baby,” Lance said, now giggling. “Holy quiznak. Oh man, this is cradle-snatching.” Lance was laughing, practically bent over in hysteria. Keith watched in utter confusion. Other species were a total mystery.

 

“It was nice,” Lance finally said, sobering up. “We visited other planets, every now and then. Father would take us to the nicest places, out there in the galaxy. Sis and I liked to play a game on who could name the most number of constellations.”

 

“We’d go underwater,” Lance continued. “There was this planet with mermaids. Have you ever met a mermaid?” Keith shook his head. “They’re amazing,” he said, his eyes bright. “They live deep in the waters. They taught me how to swim. Allura’s scared of the water. She never learned how.” He chuckled to himself. 

 

“Peace is wonderful,” he said, almost to himself. “That’s why we fight for it. So we can have that back.”

 

“I’d like that,” Keith said, softly. He hoped he could live to see it. 

 

“Keith.” He looked up to see Shiro walking towards them. “The Princess is on her way back with the troops,” he said. “We’ll debrief them on the plan. As much as possible, we’ll be engaging them in space. We can’t let them enter Altean atmosphere. There’s too much damage that can be done.” Keith nodded in agreement. “The Blade will arrive with reinforcements,” he continued. “But it’ll be forty dobashes after the warships arrive, and that may be too late. Our main task is to destroy the warships. Once the Blade gets here, we’ll spread the virus. But until then, we have to hold on our own.”

 

Keith nodded again. It was a good plan; now all that remained was to see if they had enough firepower to pull it off.

 

“We have four Lions,” Coran quipped, joining them. “It’s a shame we still haven’t identified a Paladin for the Black Lion, but we’ll make do. And we have the Castle of Lions.” He winked at them, twirling his moustache.

 

“We got this,” Lance said, putting his arm around Coran. Keith wanted to trust in his easy confidence.

 

The Princess arrived, with a slew of soldiers and aliens ready for battle. Keith saw most of the contenders from earlier. Altean healers walked around, checking their wounds. The Princess walked to them with one in tow, and motioned to Lance.

 

Lance sheepishly held his arm out. “Please don’t get mad at me,” he said.

 

Princess Allura sighed. “At this point my anger is futile, Lance,” she said sharply. “But please; can you think of someone other than yourself for one moment?”

 

“Hey!” Lance protested. “This was for the good of Voltron!”

 

“Please,” Allura said, snorting. “As if that was ever your reason for doing things.”

 

Lance folded his arms after the healer was through with him. “You wound me, sis,” he said dramatically.

 

“On the contrary, all your wounds are entirely self-inflicted,” Princess Allura said airily. Then she changed her tone. “Are we ready, Coran?”

 

Coran nodded. “We’ve got two vargas left before they arrive in our system.”

 

“Then let’s go.” She turned to all the soldiers. “I will be leading this mission as the Red Paladin.” She quickly outlined the plan. Afterwards Shiro stepped up to discuss formations. Coran grouped the teams of combatants. Keith was going to be part of the front lines. He clenched his fist. Here it was. His first head-on battle with Zarkon. 

 

“The Castle will take off in a few minutes,” Allura said. “Everyone must get into position. We will be leaving several of the fighter ships here to defend Altea, but should a Galra battle cruiser enter the atmosphere, all civilians will be evacuated to the nearest safe planet. Any questions?” 

 

Everybody shook their heads.

 

“All right. Then let us take this first battle against the Galra!” She raised a shout, and everyone joined in. Keith caught Shiro’s eye, who nodded at him. 

 

“You’ll stay here?” Keith asked, after the Castle had finally activated liftoff and catapulted to space.

 

Shiro nodded. “The Princess will be joining the fight,” he said. “I’ll be here to act as supporting commander with Coran. We can do this, Keith,” he said softly, raising his hand. “Let’s prove we’re worthy allies and take these Galra down.”

 

Keith nodded, gripping Shiro’s hand tightly. They’d come a long way. 

 

He headed for the hangar. All other pilots were already suited up. Mechanics were helping them left and right. He spotted Hunk handing Lance his helmet near one of the bays.

 

“Be careful,” Hunk was saying. 

 

“Don’t worry, Hunk,” Lance said, winking. “I got this.” He saw Keith, and waved at him. “You ready?” He asked, grinning.

 

“Yeah,” Keith said. He looked around the hangar; almost everyone was inside their jet. “Which one’s yours?”

 

Lance blinked. Hunk laughed. “Oh, right, Keith doesn’t know!”

 

“Know what?” Keith tilted his head.

 

“He’s the Blue Paladin,” Hunk explained. “You know, for the Blue Lion. Lance has been hearing her voice since he was just a kid.”

 

“Hunk!” Lance’s face was bright red. “You didn’t have to tell him that!”

 

“What? You tell everybody!” Hunk said. “He goes on and on like,  _ I was destined to be a Paladin of Voltron.  _ He always wanted to get in there and pilot, even though the King wouldn’t let him at the start of the war-” Lance put a hand on Hunk’s mouth.

 

“Oh,” Keith said faintly. Suddenly, things started to make sense. Why Lance joining the tournament was just a game. Or why Lance was so insistent of forming Voltron. Of course. Lance was part of Voltron. He felt his ears burn. He couldn’t believe he yelled at Lance earlier. He was an idiot. Lance was right; he didn’t understand. “Be safe out there,” he mumbled, suddenly overcome by the desire to put a hundred feet between him and Lance. He turned around and headed straight for his ship.

 

“Keith!”

 

He turned, one foot already in the cockpit. Lance was halfway across the room, but his gaze burned right through Keith.

 

He smiled. “Let’s win this,” he said, his hands cupped around his mouth to magnify his voice.

 

“Yeah,” Keith said back, nodding. Lance grinned, and then grabbed the handlebar leading him to the Blue Lion’s bay. Keith watched him zip away. His chest felt oddly empty.

 

He went inside and switched on the controls, letting the familiar hum of the ship wash over him. It was time to do what he came here to do.

 

\--

 

Keith slammed against his chair as he narrowly avoided the incoming blaster shots. Gritting his teeth, he maneuvered his ship to the left, luring the Galra jet to follow him. “Shiro, now!” he yelled, and the Castle of Lions fired at the ships they had all forced into a straight position, destroying countless of them in one stroke.

 

“Excellent!” he heard Coran cheer through the intercoms. “Good work, everyone,” Shiro added. Keith wiped his brow, as he heard all the aliens congratulating themselves. He glanced at his monitor.

 

“One of the battle cruisers is heading this way,” he reported. 

 

“We’re ready to engage,” Shiro said firmly. “Princess? What’s your status?”

 

They were doing better than Keith could have hoped. With only four Lions, they had been separated into groups of five, one for each warship. Keith had been stuck into the team without a Lion, though Shiro had assured them that the Castle would be supporting them throughout the attack. They’d chosen one frequency for communications, though there was a distinct lack of the Paladins amongst the chattering. Keith eventually learned that the Lions had their private communication system. That was handy; that meant less enemy interception. Still, it made Keith worry. Shiro reported the status of the Lions every ten minutes for everyone’s benefit.

 

“The Red Paladin’s team has destroyed one battle cruiser,” Shiro said next, and everyone cheered again. “The Blue Paladin has disabled their warship’s main cannon. We have minimal losses. All damaged battleships, please return to the castle.” 

 

Keith heard an incessant beeping. He glanced at his monitor again. “Shiro,” he said, urgently. Another battle cruiser was also heading towards their direction.

 

“The Green Paladin has reported their enemy warship diverting,” Shiro said calmly, though his tone was not light. “Looks like they’ll be combining their strengths to take the Castle down.”

 

Keith swore. There were ten dobashes more before their reinforcements from the Blade could arrive. The Castle could not withstand a double attack. That was why they had separated the warships in the first place. But clearly the Galra had cottoned on and were preparing their counterattack.

 

“All battleships under the Red and Blue Paladin will defend the Castle,” Shiro said. “The Red and Blue Lion will engage these warships. Black team, act as support for the Lions. The Green team will take over the Blue team’s warship. Coran will send coordinates. Everyone get in position, now!”

 

The two Galra battle cruisers were in view now. Keith couldn’t see the Lions, but he hoped they were on their way. Several of his teammates hesitantly moved forward. 

 

“Stay out of firing range,” Keith warned softly. He was used to working with fellow Blade, who had spent all their years memorizing Galra ship movements.  _ Knowledge, or death.  _ They were prepared for all eventualities. But this team now, enthusiastic as they were, did not have his experience dealing with Galra. He’d learned a dobash earlier that he had to help to guide them; or else he’d lose precious allies.

 

He bit his lip. He didn’t want any more people to die. His body ached from the sustained hits, but fortunately his jet had not taken any serious damage. More than half of his team had to retreat before their engines could fail. They’d weakened the Galra warship, true, but they didn’t have the Lions’ firepower. 

 

The first battle cruiser fired. The Castle activated the barrier; Keith’s team scattered. The second battle cruiser, arriving, also fired. Fighter jets streamed out from both, and Keith snarled as he moved to engage them.

 

He had gunned down his third Galra jet when the Blue Lion arrived. It looked worse for wear, but Keith saw how alive it moved. He could imagine Lance inside as he jumped in front of the warships, firing intently at them. 

 

The Red Lion was right behind it. Together, they teamed up on one warship, attacking the cannon. The other warship turned their attention to the Lions, leaving Shiro free to attack them with the Castle of Lions. 

 

The Lions slammed the two battle cruisers together. The fighter jets were in a frenzy now, all focused on attacking the Castle. The remaining fleet moved to intercept them.

 

“Princess! What’s wrong?” he heard Shiro shout. Keith clenched his fist, distracted. They were doing well. What happened?

 

“The Yellow Lion is under attack,” Shiro said after a few ticks. The calm was gone from his voice now. “Looks like the Galra have their new weapon ready.”

 

His heart felt like it was being crushed. Keith swallowed. Thace had sent them reports of a RoBeast, some new magic-infused weapon the Druids had conceptualized. He didn’t think it would be up and running so soon. 

 

“Yellow team, fall back!” Shiro was saying. “Retreat back to the Castle of Lions, now!” 

 

Keith saw a line of fire just below him, aimed at one of his fleet. Horror rose up in him as he realized the consequences of his distraction. He dove, adrenaline pumping his veins, slamming the ship out of the way. The fire hissed against his ship wing. He grasped the controls, desperate to stabilize himself. 

 

“Keith!” Shiro yelled. 

 

“I’m ok,” Keith responded, once he’d righted himself. The ship he’d saved had survived, but the pilot wasn’t answering. They’d probably been knocked out. Keith glanced up; the Lions had successfully rammed the warships together, and the Castle of Lions released cannon fire just as the Lions jumped away. The two warships exploded together.

 

Keith could hear cheering again, but this time it was ragged and muted. There were less than ten of them in the fleet around. He saw the Blue Lion pick out the remaining enemy fighter jets. Keith began to push his fleetmate back to the Castle of Lions. 

 

He managed to herd them back to the hangar. Hunk met him once he jumped out of the cockpit, handing him a drink. “This is bad,” he said, biting his lip. “We took down three battle cruisers, but two are still fighting, and now there’s this creepy big monster whooping Yellow’s butt. She’s upset, and she can’t take both on her own. It took half the fleet down in one move.”

 

“No,” Keith said, his grip on the bottle tight. He wanted to go back out there, but his own ship was damaged. Hunk looked over it. “I can get this back up but it’ll take a while,” he said grimly. “You’re lucky. And you’re good,” he added. “Saw you take down, what, twenty of those guys? And you saved Qurelli, too.”

 

“It’s what I do,” Keith said. He took a long swig and handed the bottle back to Hunk. “I need to talk to Shiro.”

 

He ran to the control room. Shiro was there, talking to the Paladins.

 

“Sis! A little help here?” Lance was saying. His voice was broadcasting all over the room. 

 

“I’m busy at the moment, Lance!” Princess Allura snapped. 

 

“The Castle of Lions will support the Green Paladin,” Shiro said. “Princess, please go engage with the RoBeast. The Yellow and Blue Paladin is under heavy fire.”

 

The Castle began to move. Keith stepped up to Shiro, touching his shoulder. “What do we do?”

 

“Keith!” Shiro turned to him. “You’re okay.” He looked ready to hug him. Keith awkwardly clenched his fingers on his shoulder.

 

“I’m fine,” he reassured. “My ship took some damage, but Hunk says he’ll work on it.”

 

Shiro exhaled, touching Keith’s hand with a quick squeeze. “I’m glad you’re back.”

 

Keith smiled, letting himself bask in Shiro’s warmth. “I’m glad to be back. What’s the Blade’s ETA?”

 

Shiro glanced at the communicator. “They’ll be here in ten ticks,” he said, and the relief was clear in his voice. “Paladins! We’ll take over this warship. The Green Lion, join the other Lions with the Robeast. Green team, fall back once we’ve destroyed this warship.”

 

The Castle arrived just in time to see the Green Lion jump away. The warship was already heavily battered; the Green team’s fleet shot down fighter jet after fighter jet. The Castle fired. The Galra battle cruiser activated their defenses - or tried to. Keith felt hope spring up in him. The warship moved their cannon, but no offensive fire came.

 

Something crackled. “We’ve disabled this ship,” Kolivan’s voice said, cutting through the communications. Shiro released a huge breath. “Thank you.”

 

The Castle fired again, and the warship was done for. Keith could not help the happy shout that rose through his throat.

 

“One more warship to go,” Shiro said. “All teams, fall back. Kolivan, let’s disable the last warship and take down that RoBeast.”

 

“Guys?” Lance’s voiced piped up. “It, uh, might not be that easy.”

 

Coran turned to Shiro. “This RoBeast is just impenetrable!” he sad. “The Lions aren’t doing well!”

 

Alarms flashed everywhere. Keith wondered if he imagined the pained roar that assaulted his mind. 

 

“We’re on our way,” Shiro announced. The Castle moved at full speed, and soon Keith had his first sight of the RoBeast. It was huge; thrice the size of one Lion. And even with four of them, they could barely keep up. The warship was also firing at them; leaving the Paladins on the defense. 

 

He heard Kolivan swear. It wasn’t often Keith heard the commander of the Blade of Marmora shaken.

 

“We’ll disable the Galra battle cruiser,” Kolivan said. “But I’m not sure if we can do anything about that RoBeast.”

 

“That’s fine,” Shiro said. “Princess and the other Paladins: leave the last battle cruiser to us. Focus on that RoBeast.”

 

“Do you need me to go out there?” Keith asked. He hated feeling helpless.

 

Shiro glanced at him. Sweat was dripping from his brow. “No,” he murmured. “Stay here. Coran, Keith can help with one of the laser cannons.” 

 

Coran nodded, and waved Keith to one of the seats. Unfamiliar as he was with bridge controls, Coran walked him through easily. Keith glanced around; there were a painful few in the control room. The Altean army had definitely suffered losses with King Alfor’s passing. 

 

He took a deep breath. He needed to do his part. As strong as the Galra Empire was, all they had to do was cut the head and they’d be fine. With Zarkon gone, it would be easier to take down the Empire. 

 

He could hear heavy breathing. The Castle was directly connected with the Lions, and now he felt all of the Paladins’ emotions. Princess Allura’s anger. Lance’s weariness. The Yellow Paladin’s pain. The Green Paladin’s frustration.

 

The battle cruiser was firing at them now. The defenses held up, but after so many beatings, Keith wasn’t sure how long it would last. They need to destroy this ship now. 

 

Something slammed against them; the whole room lurched.

 

“Shiro!” The Princess cried. “The RoBeast is heading for the Castle!” Keith pulled up his monitor; the RoBeast had extended its arm and banged it on the Castle defense.

 

“Damn!” Shiro said. “Kolivan, how’s the virus?”

 

“We need more time,” Kolivan replied shortly. 

 

Keith glanced up at his Shiro. His face was pale. “Coran, what’s the probability of us getting out of this Robeast’s line of fire?”

 

“Er,” Coran said, quickly running over calculations. “At our speed; barely 5%. Only the Royal members of the family can activate us a wormhole to get out of here.”

 

“Running isn’t an option,” Shiro said. “We can’t lure that warship away.” There was another slam. The defenses sizzled ominously. The Lions were attacking the Robeast now, but nothing seemed to indicated they were close to damaging it. The Blue Lion slammed against the extended arm, trying it rip it off. The Robeast retaliated by throwing it directly at the warship’s shooting range, who opened fire on the the defenseless Lion.

 

“Lance!” Keith screamed. Distantly he heard Princess Allura scream in unison.

 

“Kolivan!” Shiro said, slamming his fist.

 

“Thirty more ticks, Shiro!”

 

“We don’t have that time!” The Castle took another hit. This time, the defenses fizzled out completely. Coran was scrambling, trying to bring it back up, but nothing was responding. The Yellow Lion moved protectively in front of them as the warship faced their cannon at the Castle.

 

Keith could feel the cold sweat of terror. Was he going to die here? Was this the last stand they had against Zarkon?

 

“Fire,” Shiro said, breaking through Keith’s haze of panic. “Everyone, fire at that warship with everything we have. If we’re going down, we’re going down fighting. Is that clear?”

 

“Yes sir,” voices chorused; Keith’s was among them. His throat was dry. He could see the fear in everyone’s eyes. But they all snapped to obey Shiro’s order, possibly his last. “Three, two, one, go!”

 

They fired, just as the warship did. Keith watched the explosion. He hoped they managed to hit it. The dust cleared, and his hopes were dashed. The warship was barely damaged. 

 

There was another slam from their side, and the Castle toppled dangerously. The Robeast was attacking again, and without their defenses, they bore the full brunt of the attack. 

 

“The battle cruiser’s about to fire again!” Coran yelled. The warship aimed, and Keith instinctively closed his eyes. He heard Princess Allura shout. He opened to see the Red Lion charge at the warship’s hull, making the cannon misfire. It barely grazed the Castle. But before Keith could feel relief at that, the Robeast extended its arms, pulling the Red Lion back and slamming it to the Castle’s broadside. 

 

The lights were flashing. “Red Lion is in critical condition!” Coran yelled. “The Castle is also in bad shape. It can’t take another attack!”

 

“Princess!” Shiro was shouting. “Can you hear me?” 

 

“Sis!” It almost gave Keith hope to hear Lance’s voice again, even if it was scratchy. “Stay with me!”

 

“Lance,” the Princess whispered. “You’re okay.”

 

“I’m okay! And you better be, too!” There was a touch of hysteria to his voice.

 

“Princess, we’re here with you,” the Green Paladin said.

 

“We’ll always stand by you. We’ve sworn to offer our lives to protect the universe,” the Yellow Paladin added.

 

“Everyone,” Allura croaked. Her voice was barely a murmur. “I - you’ve done so much - ”

 

“Princess Allura,” Shiro said, and there was so much pain in his voice, Keith almost ached to hear it, “We’re all here for the fight against Zarkon. We’re in this together, we’ll get out of this together. So please;  _ we can’t give up here _ .”

 

There was silence. Then, “Shiro! We won’t be able to stop this one last fire!” Kolivan shouted. Keith looked up to see the warship cannon aimed at them. The light blinded him.

 

There was a loud roar.

 

The light receded. Keith had imagined death would be more painful. But he wasn’t dead; he could still feel himself, sitting on the same seat. He clenched his fists, shocked that all his limbs were still attached to his body.

 

He heard a shout to his left. “I don’t believe it!” Coran was saying. “The Black Lion is here!”

 

Keith blinked at the sight in front of him. The Black Lion had shielded them from the warship’s aim. It rose majestically, and then turned to the Castle of Lions. His eyes seemed to be trained at the control room.

 

Shiro gasped. “Coran...I think...it’s speaking to me?”

 

“What?” Coran sounded stunned.

 

“The Lion,” Shiro said, his eyes raised, meeting the Black Lion’s gaze. “I-I can hear it.”

 

“It’s chosen you as its pilot,” Princess Allura spoke through the comms, her voice filled with wonder. “Shiro! You are the Black Paladin. You must come and help us form Voltron!”

 

“Shiro, we’ve disabled the warship,” Kolivan cut in. “Now it’s up to you.”

 

Shiro glanced at Keith. His eyes were wide with shock. Keith jumped out of his seat and took him by the shoulders. “Shiro,” he said. “You have to go, now.”

 

Coran was also running up to his side. “Come on!” He said. “Let’s get you suited up and in your Lion!”

 

Keith watched them go. The Black Lion, sensing their intention, flew up to the hangar side of the Castle. Keith took a deep breath, and then stepped up to the middle of the bridge. “We can fire,” he said out loud. “Princess, the battle cruiser is disabled. What are your orders?”

 

“Do it,” Princess Allura said, with certainty. “Take down that warship. We’ll take care of the Robeast.”

 

Keith nodded. “Let’s give them everything we got,” he said, looking at all the other crew sitting in the bridge. They nodded at him, and they opened their fire. He saw the Robeast coming back to attack them, but the Yellow and Green Paladin covered for them. The warship, defenseless without its shields and cannons, was easy prey. Keith watched with triumph as it multiple explosions took it down.

 

There were gasps. Keith stared at the monitor. The Black Lion had joined the fray. The lions gravitated next to each other, and Keith heard Shiro yell, “Form Voltron!” It was a sight to watch. The lions began to combine, and transformed into a giant robot. It faced the Robeast, drawing a sword with its arm, and slashed it several times. The Robeast, undefeatable barely ten ticks ago, now didn’t stand a chance. Keith watched with wide eyes. So this was the power of Voltron.

 

He could hear the cheering throughout the bridge. “Voltron! Voltron!” But what echoed louder was the roaring in his ears.


	4. Chapter 4

If Keith thought the earlier festivities were bad, then he couldn’t have expected what was in store after winning against the Galra. Once the Castle landed again in Altea, civilians of all species flooded in, hugging and shouting everywhere. Keith’s head was spinning from the sheer amount of people. He located Shiro soon enough, but a crowd had formed around him; everyone was excited to meet the new Black Paladin. Keith could barely catch his eye. He gave up soon enough, and walked around to avoid the crowds.

 

“Keith,” someone said, and Keith whipped his head around. Kolivan was there, with Antok right behind him. He held out his hand out above his chest, and Keith grasped it close; a Blade sign of recognition. “You’ve done well. In fact, you and Shiro have done better than expected.”

 

“Thank you,” Keith said. “But Shiro did most of the work.” There was no shame in giving the honor to the one who deserved it.

 

Kolivan shook his head. “Who knew Ulaz was right about saving that one alien?” he mused. “I always thought he’d gone mad; risking his cover to save some cybernetically modified prisoner. The witch would have had our throats for taking their prized Champion. But he was right, as always. He’d been the one insistent for this alliance. And now look: we’ve taken down more warships than we’ve ever had.”

 

Antok grunted. “You can’t give Ulaz all the credit,” he said. “He did insist we go save some Galra child in some backwater planet.”

 

Keith stared, and then Antok tilted his head at him. “Oh,” Keith said, snapping his jaw. Antok was probably smiling behind his mask. “You’re. OH WOW. You’re a jerk, Antok.” He folded his arms amid Antok’s gurgled chuckles.

 

“You were a such a tiny thing,” Kolivan said, almostly softly. He reached out to ruffle Keith’s hair. “And not a single bit of fur on your skin.”

 

“We almost thought we got the wrong kid,” Antok said. “Until you were finally able to activate your blade.”

 

“What were you going to do, throw me back?” Keith shot back. “What will people say if I kept talking about purple aliens who abducted me?”

 

“They’d throw you in the crazy house,” Antok said, slapping him lightly on the shoulder. “No one will ever believe you.”

 

Keith sighed and rolled his eyes. He cared deeply about everyone in the Blade of Marmora, being the only family he’d ever known, but sometimes Antok took too much pleasure in teasing him.

 

“Regardless, you are one of us,” Kolivan said. “You’ve always been meant to be part of the Blade of Marmora. Your mother would have been proud of you.”

 

Keith swallowed the lump in his throat. It was rare to be praised by the commander, and to even mention his birthgiver in the same breath. “Thank you.”

 

Kolivan patted him on the back. “We will have an audience with the Princess of Altea tomorrow,” he said. “Be present. We will lay out our plans, and hopefully in time, we will defeat Emperor Zarkon and restore peace to the universe.”

 

Keith nodded. “Did Ulaz come with you?” he asked.

 

“He was communicating with Thace as we left,” Antok said. “He will update us with the Galra movements once he’s identified their next plan of action.”

 

“Zarkon will surely know that Voltron has returned. He will not hold back with his attacks now,” Kolivan added. “And that Robeast worries me. That witch will surely make more of those. We must tread carefully.”

 

His two superiors nodded at him, and then took their leave. Keith watched them disappear into the crowds. Plenty turned to stare, clearly frightened by the masks. But he knew word of how Galra had helped with the battle would spread soon enough. And Shiro, no matter how human he was, wore the Blade’s colors. They would be cemented as members of the Voltron Alliance; their mission was complete.

 

He looked for Shiro again. The crowd around him was thinning, and he saw the Princess Allura standing beside him. For once, she was wearing a long Altean gown, looking approachable for the first time Keith had ever laid his eyes on her. She was smiling, her eyes turned towards Shiro. Shiro was talking to her, drink in hand. The Princess raised her hand to her mouth as she laughed.

 

Lance was there too. Like his sister, he was hanging on Shiro’s every word. Occasionally some alien would speak to him and he’d be distracted, offering a smile to anyone who came close to him. Keith watched, suddenly aware of the distance.

 

No matter. Shiro was a Paladin of Voltron now, and with the power of the Lions they could save the universe. And that was all Keith wanted.

 

\--

 

“I didn’t see you last night,” Shiro said to him the next morning. Keith had snuck back to their quarters, overwhelmed with yesterday’s events, and had fallen asleep almost immediately.

 

“You were busy,” Keith said. “Talking to the Princess.”

 

The tips of Shiro’s ears turned red. “You could have joined in. I was looking for you. Kolivan and Antok told me they spoke to you.”

 

Keith shrugged. “They seemed happy about how this all panned out.”

 

“They’re more than happy.” Shiro patted him on the knee. “Keith, they’re so proud of you.”

 

“They’re proud of you too,” Keith returned. “You’re the Black Paladin now.”

 

Shiro heaved a sigh. “I still don’t know how that happened,” he said. “It was all a blur. I really thought we were done for then.”

 

“Shiro,” Keith said earnestly, “you didn’t give up even when the Princess was about to. You held yourself together for everyone. You’re a true leader. You deserve to lead Voltron.”

 

Shiro ducked his head. “Since when were you the one giving inspirational speeches?” he said, half-jokingly.

 

“I learned from the best,” Keith said, grinning. He remembered the many things Shiro had taught him. _Patience yields focus._ He had helped Keith just when he was growing antsy, frustrated with how little the Blade of Marmora was achieving.

 

Shiro reached out to touch his face. Keith tensed, unused to such direct contact. “Keith,” Shiro said softly. “No matter what happens, I’ll always have your back, ok?”

 

Keith nodded, missing the ghost of Shiro’s fingertips as he pulled away. “Me too, Shiro,” he added quietly. “Me too.”

 

They had sworn their lives to the Blade of Marmora. But this moment felt as real as swearing their lives to each other.

 

Without another word, they headed out of their room. Altean soldiers were waiting for them. They were escorted again to the same room where they first met the Princess. Keith couldn’t believe only three days had passed since then. That day when Princess Allura had grilled them so thoroughly seemed like a lifetime ago.

 

Kolivan and Antok were already in the room. Coran was also there, talking to the Blade. Shiro and Keith went to their side.

 

“Oh good,” Coran said briskly as they neared. “You’re all here. The Princess is on her way.” He clapped Shiro wholeheartedly on the shoulder. “Good to have you with us, Black Paladin.”

 

Shiro nodded back.

 

A few minutes after, the Princess arrived. She was back in her battle suit, though her eyes were not so hard as she swept over the room. “The Blade of Marmora,” she said readily. Kolivan stepped up and shook her hand firmly. “Let’s not waste time. Brief me on this plan of yours to take down Zarkon.”

 

She took a seat as Kolivan and Antok spread out maps and blueprints in front of her. It was a plan that had taken years and countless members to take fruition. It needed the decisive weapon Voltron for it to work, but it still involved more elements. Ulaz had estimated it would take at least a year before they could make a crucial strike at Zarkon.

 

Princess Allura’s lips were pursed as Kolivan explained it to her. “We have been fighting this war for thirty years,” she said. “Another one won’t hurt, but it will stretch our troops thin. The Galra Empire is massively advancing left and right.”

 

“That’s true,” Kolivan said, pointing at the areas of Galra colonies on the map. “But while your main troops take on the majority of his forces, the Blade will continue its grassroots movements. We’ve liberated several key prison camps and struck at far away colonies. The more the Empire expands, the weaker their headquarters will be. We’ll leave him without any reinforcements by the time comes. The important thing here is to suppress Galra technology and magic. That’s what keeps him stronger than the resistance.”

 

Coran tugged at his moustache. “So we cut off all the arms first before going after the head, hmm?” He chuckled. “Classic Choferiak hunting strategy, if you ask me!”

 

Kolivan looked at the Princess. “Zarkon has always wanted to take control of Voltron. He will stop at nothing to get it. Already we have reports of his Druids attempting to recreate a similar force. That Robeast is a sign of that.”

 

“That’s true,” she agreed. Her fists were clenched. “That monster - it’s clearly a war machine. At this point nothing can stand to those creatures except Voltron.”

 

“We’ve studied how to corrupt Galra warships,” Antok said. “We’ll shift our energies on how to corrupt these Robeasts too. Surely there’s a way to do that.”

 

Princess Allura nodded. “We’ll be mobilizing the Castle of Lions in three days’ time. The Paladins will need time to bond,” she said, with a glance at Shiro. “But I’m afraid we don’t have the luxury of time. It won’t be long before Zarkon realizes we have Voltron back.”

 

“That’s fine, Princess,” Shiro said. “We’ll work on it as we go.”

 

Princess Allura nodded. “You’ve met all the Paladins yesterday. Coran will be supervising your training here in the meantime. Afterwards we will chart to the largest Galra colonies and begin our offense.”

 

Kolivan nodded at Shiro. “We’ll keep in touch,” he said. “Form Voltron and end Zarkon’s reign, Shiro.” Then he gestured to Antok and Keith. “The Blade will be resume our activities as planned. We’ll send regular updates to match our war timeline. If all goes well, we can regain our freedom by the end of this year.” He began to collect his papers. Keith stood to help, his mind curiously detached.

 

He hadn’t fully understood what Shiro becoming the Black Paladin meant until Kolivan had said it. Now it hit him like laser fire. Of course he and Shiro would be going separate ways. Shiro was a Paladin of Voltron now.

 

It had only been several years since they’d saved Shiro, but Keith could no longer imagine a time without him. Shiro’s presence had given Keith something to latch on to, even as he felt the futility of their life’s mission. He’d been restless; going through the motions, a mere soldier ready to die at any moment’s notice. Up until yesterday, he had always imagined a life of battle. The idea of peace was foreign to him. But now it was a possibility, and Keith realized it terrified him.

 

Once they defeated Zarkon, Shiro would probably return to his home planet. Keith had never thought about it before. Shiro was always going to leave him.

 

“Keith?”

 

He realized his hands were shaking. Keith closed his fists on the maps, willing himself to breathe.

 

“Are you okay?” Shiro asked, frowning. The sight of him standing over Keith, so full of concern, made an ugly taste rise in Keith’s throat.

 

“I’m fine,” Keith lied. He reached for the remaining papers on the table, careful not to crush them. “I’ll take this back to ship, right, Kolivan?”

 

The commander stared at him. None of them had donned the masks today, out of courtesy to the Princess. His eyes seemed to pierce through Keith’s. “Yes,” he said. “You and Antok go. Shiro and I will discuss more with the Princess.”

 

Princess Allura nodded at them, and the Altean soldiers escorted them back to their ship. They loaded all the materials back in silence.

 

“Looks like they’ve fixed your ship,” Antok commented, once they headed down the ramp. Keith glanced up; the hangar was full of different ships, presumably from all the aliens who had participated from the tournament. Keith zeroed in on his fighter jet at once; it was three ships to the left of Kolivan’s. Already Keith was walking towards it, drawn towards the shine. His jet looked immaculate. The damaged hull was refurbished, and it looked like it had been washed clean.

 

Antok rapped against the metal. “Good workmanship,” he said. “If only we’d gotten more engineers to defect with us. We’d be less worried about repairs.”

 

Keith stared, unseeing. He’d flown this ship with Shiro, and now he’d fly back alone. He always preferred solo missions; there was less to worry about if he didn’t have a partner who could die at any given moment. He didn’t want to come back with the dead, knowing he’d let them down.

 

He exhaled. Shiro was going to be fine. He’d have four other Paladins looking out for him. A whole team of people, with engineers and soldiers and advisers. Shiro was going to be fine without Keith.

 

“Antok,” he said, fighting off his instinct to sob. “What are you going to do after the war?”

 

Antok looked surprised by the question. Perhaps like Keith, he’d never bothered to think about it. “Go see my family, I guess,” he said wryly. “Though they’ve probably given me up for dead after all this time. That’s better than being a deserter or a rebel, though.” His eyes darkened. “Zarkon would torture them if he had any idea.”

 

“Oh.” Keith swallowed. The Blade of Marmora probably had families too. He hadn’t thought; never considered to ask. Did they leave their wives and children? People who depended on them?

 

“What about you, Keith?”

 

“I...I don’t know,” Keith said quietly. “I don’t know my family…”

 

Antok put his hand on his shoulder. “You’re welcome to visit mine if you want,” he said roughly. “And we can probably find your mother’s surviving family. She was a strange one. Never talked much. But I’m sure Ulaz could track them down.”

 

“Or you could go around the galaxy,” Antok said, when Keith didn’t respond. “Visit all the planets. You could go see Earth! It’s where you born.”

 

Keith stared at his ship. He could go anywhere, once this war was over. But he didn’t know where he would go. The universe was a big place. He could be so easily forgotten.

 

“Hey,” Antok said, and this time his tone was firm enough to make Keith look. His fellow Blade tightened his grip on Keith’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about this stuff until the fight is over, okay? It’s better to put it in the back of your head. We’ve got a long way ahead of us, Keith. Stay focused.”

 

Keith nodded. It was what Shiro would say. Keith needed to get a grip. He slowly breathed out. “Thanks, Antok.”

 

“No problem, kiddo.” Antok clapped him on the back. “I’ll head back to the war council and get Kolivan. You take it easy today, you hear? We head back to the base by this afternoon.”

 

Keith nodded again. He watched Antok go; soon a purple blur in the haze of all the aliens going in and out of the hangar. Keith touched the cool metal of his ship, letting his head fall against it.

 

It was going to be fine. They would win the war, and Shiro would be happy. Everyone would be happy. That was what Keith wanted.

 

“Excuse me, yes?”

 

Keith staggered away from his ship; shocked by the sudden noise. He turned; there was a tall, gray alien looming over him; with blue spots dotting their scaly skin. Keith recognized them as one of the participants in the tournament.

 

“Yes?” he said cautiously.

 

“Yes!” The alien bubbled at him. “You saved my life, yes!”

 

Keith blinked. “Wha-”

 

“You’re a hero, yes!” The alien’s blue eyes widened at him, and their mouth split into what Keith supposed constituted for a smile.

 

“Um,” Keith began, “I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”

 

The alien shook their head vigorously. “This ship,” they said, a webbed hand touching Keith’s jet, “pushed me out of the way when I was about to get hit, yes! And you are the pilot, yes!”

 

Keith remembered now. “Oh,” he said, recalling the ship he’d rescued at the battle yesterday. “Yes,” he added, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, uh. That was me.”

 

Their eyes were shining. “Yes! You’re _my_ hero, yes!”

 

Keith backed against the metal as the alien moved closer. They were much, much taller than him.

 

Fortunately, someone came to his rescue. “Qurelli of Zyron!” Lance bounced up to them, with Hunk in tow. “You look dashing today, my good lady!”

 

The blue spots turned into a soft pink. “Prince Lance, yes,” the alien cooed. “You look just as well, yes!”

 

Hunk elbowed Keith. “I told Qurelli how you brought her in after saving her!” he whispered excitedly.

 

“Uh, thanks,” Keith said, shifting anxiously from one foot to another. “Though you didn’t really have to.”

 

“Are you kidding me? You’re a hero!”

 

“Yes!” Qurelli echoed, giggling. “A very good hero, yes.” She clasped a hand around Keith’s own. “You must visit my planet, yes,” she added vigorously. “We will welcome you as we ought, yes!”

 

“Qurelli is the daughter of the Zyrese leader,” Lance said loudly. “She’s the strongest fighter in their whole planet.”

 

“Amazing,” Keith said, wishing Qurelli would stop looking at him with such wide eyes. It made him uncomfortable. “Uh, I’d be honored to visit. Once the war is over,” he added quickly, when Qurelli opened her mouth in excitement.

 

“Of course yes,” Qurelli said. “We will wait for you, yes!”

 

Hunk tapped Keith’s ship. “Anyway, how do you like this, buddy? Fixed it up, good as new. We patched up yours too, Qurelli!” he added. “I’ll show you!” He steered the alien to the other side of the hangar. Qurelli reluctantly let go of Keith’s hand and followed Hunk’s lead. Keith watched them go with some relief. He never knew how to react to gratefulness. Shiro was much better at it.

 

Lance coughed. Keith glanced at the prince, who had folded his arms. “Wow Keith,” Lance said, lips quirked. “You’re such a hero.”

 

There was something in Lance’s tone that made him bristle. “You’re the one who took down that Robeast,” he said instead. “So you’re the hero.”

 

Lance grinned, smug. “I know. I saved your life, right?”

 

“You saved everyone’s lives,” Keith corrected. “You and Shiro and the rest of the paladins.”

 

Lance sighed exaggeratedly. “What does a man have to do to get some personal appreciation here?”

 

He was leaning against Keith’s ship. Keith envied how put together he was. Lance was a Paladin of Voltron, just like Shiro. He probably didn’t waste his time worrying about trivial things.

 

“Hey, Lance,” he started. “Can I ask for a favor?”

 

Lance raised his eyebrow. “Hero Keith, asking _me_ for a favor?” he said, mock incredulously. Then he unfolded his arms and straightened up. “What do you need?”

 

“Can you look after Shiro for me?” he asked. He knew, instinctively, it was selfish and unnecessary. Paladins looked after each other; they were a team. But still - “He’s a fellow Blade,” he said. “He’s the closest I have to family. I...I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to him.”

 

The light in Lance’s blue eyes seemed to flicker.

 

Keith swallowed the lump in his throat. “I know he’s a Paladin too,” Keith added, desperately, “and you’ll watch his back anyway, so I’m just-”

 

Lance reached out to touch his hand. “It’s ok, Keith, I got it.” Softly, he added, “Of course I’ll take care of Shiro. Don’t you worry about it; I’ll keep him safe, no matter what. I promise.” He grinned, and Keith felt his heartbeat slow back to normal.

 

He glanced at his hand. He hadn’t realized he’d clenched it into a fist. Slowly, he unclenched it, and let Lance touch him, hand to glove. Lance very carefully intertwined their hands together.

 

“So you promise me something, then,” Lance said, his voice low. They were so close. If Keith stepped forward, their foreheads would be touching.

 

“What?” Keith asked, taking that step. Later, he’d wonder he did that; why he couldn’t resist the gravity that pulled him closer and closer to the Altean Prince.

 

If anything, Lance’s grin grew even brighter. “Once this is all done, we’ll go swimming together.”

 

“Huh?” Keith blinked in confusion. Swimming? What was that?

 

Lance laughed. “You heard me,” he said, wrenching his hand away before Keith could ask for an explanation. “So stay alive until then, okay, Keith?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> right so - i had hoped to get majority of this fic out before season 3 because it was hopefully...going to run parallel of s1 & s2...but of course timelines never work out that way hahaha. i will be rewriting some of it as we go but more or less i have an idea of where this is heading! the likelihood of me getting everything out by s4 is slim but who knows maybe i'll start updating once a week :D thanks to everyone who's still here!


	5. Chapter 5

The Blade of Marmora redoubled their efforts once they returned as a successful member of the Voltron Alliance. Espionage and infiltration was their forte, and data gathering was a must. Keith was sent on mission after mission to discover the movements of the Galra Empire, as well as sabotage the communications systems of their stronger colonies. He’d drag himself back to the base, not knowing what day it was, body full of bruises and his blade dripping of Galra blood. The months fled by in the same manner. Everyone was working just as hard; most days Keith couldn’t even discern who was under the masks that came in and out of the headquarters. Perhaps it was better not to ask. He hated hearing about his fallen brothers. Ulaz’s mouth had been drawn with worry since they’d heard reports of the Galra Empire discovering spies in their ranks. Every day the Blade was in danger of detection, and the worry plagued him on top of the exhaustion.

 

He missed Shiro fiercely. On the day they left the Castle of Lions, Shiro had hugged him, longer than he had ever had. Keith had tensed, but he’d slowly returned the gesture, wrapping his arms around Shiro’s neck. He hadn’t wanted to let go when Shiro dropped his own arms, but he couldn’t let himself cling.

 

“Be strong, soldier,” Shiro had whispered softly. Then, “Take care, Keith.”

 

Keith had nodded mutely. The words had all stuck in his throat.

 

He wished he had said something more, now. Kolivan had given Shiro one of their communicators, designed to send messages in spite of the galactic distance. He’d set up a private server for him and Shiro, a kindness Keith hadn’t expected. So far Shiro had sent updates to Keith on their missions as Voltron. Keith, in return, replied with details of his own raids. Even a simple _freed the Arusians from the Galra today_ made Keith’s day feel better. Just knowing that somewhere out there, Shiro was alive, helped him carry on to the next mission.

 

Ulaz looked over him as he stumbled into the medbay a few quintents later. “Is your arm well, Keith?” he asked kindly.

 

Keith nodded. He’d had a run in with Galra sentries in his mission earlier that day. Fortunately the injury wasn’t serious. “I’m just having a hard time sleeping,” he confessed.

 

Ulaz nodded understandingly. He’d explained to Keith before that even though Galra blood ran in his veins, he wasn’t expected to have the same stamina or strength as a full Galra. Still, Keith had persisted in training, often passing out when he overexerted himself. Ulaz usually took pity on him, bringing him to the medbay as he scolded him all the while on his limitations. “There’s some sleeping pills in that cabinet,” he said now. “Be careful though; that’s strong enough to knock out a klanmüÌrl.”

 

Keith shook his head wryly. “With how much sleep I’ve been getting lately, I think I’m gonna need the kick.” He reached for the cabinet, climbing up a chair to do so. He’d accepted the reality that he’d never shoot to Galra height a few years back. He wished he could be as tall as Shiro; at least he was close enough to the others. But Shiro had told him that he was considered tall for a human, meaning Keith’s height was just average.

 

Ulaz had stood up when Keith turned around, a fistful of pills in his hand. There was a thoughtful look on his face. “The toll of the last few months has been hard on you,” he said.

 

“I’m fine,” Keith said automatically, wincing as he did so. He was used to insisting to Ulaz he could keep up with everyone else, no matter how much Ulaz chided him for doing so. “I mean, I could be better, but. We’re all doing our best. We’ve got to hit the timelines, don’t we?”

 

Kolivan had briefed them all on their deliverables for the war effort. They were providing valuable data for the Castle of Lions on which locations to prioritize. The more planets Voltron could liberate before attracting Zarkon’s attention, the better. And Zarkon seemed to be distracted with their creation of Robeasts. Keith hoped he would be taken by surprise once the resistance came for the Galra Empire.

 

“Yes, but you’re more use to us well-rested than dead on your feet,” Ulaz reminded him. He took the pills from Keith’s hand and moved them to a tiny jar. “Don’t overwork yourself, Keith. Remember, we have a bigger battle ahead of us.”  Three days ago, they’d received news from Thace that the Galra Empire was mobilizing. Kolivan’s response was to speed up on their own preparations as well.

 

He wondered if he’d ever meet Thace in the flesh. He’d been undercover ever seen Keith had been taken in by the Blade; Keith only knew him from the reports and by Ulaz’s occasional stories. Ulaz’s eyes always looked faraway when he spoke of Thace. Surely he worried about him. They’d both been spies in Zarkon’s chain of command, after all, though Ulaz had risked his cover when he helped Shiro escape. Now Thace was their only remaining spy in Central Command.

 

Keith took the jar. “Thanks, Ulaz.”

 

“You’re welcome.” He reached out to pat Keith on shoulder. “Take care of yourself, all right?” Keith nodded, and returned to his room.

 

He checked his communicator. Shiro had spoken of an attempted infiltration by one of Zarkon’s commanders into the Castle of Lions. Lance had been seriously hurt protecting Coran - a fact that made Keith’s throat close up. He’d asked Lance to look after Shiro, but who was going to look out for the Altean Prince? Luckily, Princess Allura had been able to break through the barrier and now they had Sendak under their custody.

 

_Is Lance okay?_

 

He had sent the message two dobashes ago thoughtlessly, and now he wished he could take it back. He should have asked about the Castle, or if Shiro was ok (Shiro was ok, right? He was messaging Keith, after all), or how did Sendak even break in. But he’d typed the first thing in his head, and then he’d left his room in sudden fear of what the response would be.

 

Shiro had finally replied, to Keith’s relief. _He’ll be fine. He’s in a healing pod right now._ That the injury was enough to require a healing pod spoke volumes. They had qualified healers on their ship. Keith bit his lip.

 

_How long will he be in the pod?_

 

_Tell him to be more careful._

 

_I hope you’re all okay, too._

 

He added that last bit in an attempt to cut off the frustration ballooning in him. Shiro talked about the other Paladins extensively, which always gave him a hollow feeling in his stomach. Keith had never felt that way before. But this wasn’t the same feeling. Instead his chest felt tight, and his mind wouldn’t stop conjuring Lance, with his bloody lip and his bruised face. He took one of the sleeping pills from the jar and dry swallowed.

 

By the time he woke up, his communicator was flooded with messages.

 

_We’re fine, Keith. And don’t worry, he’ll be out in a few ticks._

 

_I’ll tell him what you said._

 

_He says you’re the one who should be more careful._

 

_I may have told him about that time you went charging into that Galra base without waiting for backup._

 

_wow keith i didn’t know u cared_

 

_also!!! u and shiro have this super secret comms thing?? i want one!!!_

 

_is this galra tech or smth_

 

_keeeeeiiiiiitttthhhhh_

 

Keith scrolled down the messages, oddly disappointed that that was the end of it.

 

_Did you steal the communicator from Shiro?_

 

He put down the communicator, reaching for his knife. He was surprised when he heard it beep after he strapped the blade inside his hidden pocket.

 

_rude_

 

_i borrowed it keith_

 

_i’m not a barbarian_

 

Keith laughed.

 

_This is supposed to be for important transmissions, Lance._

 

_this is important!!!_

 

_u have this cool thing and never told me!_

 

_Technically, it’s Shiro who didn’t tell you._

 

_yeah well shiro’s our fearless leader so i can’t blame him_

 

_so that makes it ur fault_

 

_That doesn’t make sense._

 

_u don’t make sense!!!_

 

Keith was still smiling when he went down to the mess hall. Antok raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re in a good mood,” he said, as Keith took his daily rations.

 

Keith shrugged.

 

“Also, Ulaz has put you down for training for the next two weeks,” Antok informed him. Keith nearly dropped his plate in shock.

 

“He’s probably just worried about you,” Antok added, seeing the outrage in Keith’s expression.

 

“He should stop treating me like a kid,” Keith grumbled. Training meant being stuck in the base, and there was nothing Keith hated more than being cooped up inside. He’d spent enough years in their tiny space station, unable to venture outside. The moment he’d learned to pilot his ship was possibly his warmest memory. Before that he’d never imagined he’d be _good_ at something - he learned how to fight, how to use his blade, to defend himself, from the Blade. But flying was different. The moment his hands had touched the controls, he just _knew._ Even Kolivan admitted he had natural talent with piloting. And it was what Keith loved best.  

 

“It’s a chance to impart to others what you know,” Antok said sharply. “And also to cover the basics. Don’t get overconfident, Keith. That’s how you make mistakes. Remember, knowledge-”

 

“Or death,” Keith finished with him. “I know.”

 

He knew his fellow Blade meant well. But sometimes it seemed to him that all they could see in their eyes was the tiny child they’d rescued from a backwater planet years ago. Galra lived longer lives; to them he was barely a fledgling. But Keith wanted to be acknowledged like everyone else. He was young, true, but he was capable. And he was fighting in the war just like everyone else.

 

Shiro had always treated him like an equal. The weight of his absence hung even heavier on Keith. But if Shiro were here, he wouldn’t complain. Soldiers took their orders. He’d always been good at making the best of a frustrating situation. Keith missed him even more as he spent hours in the training rooms, sparring against the other members of the Blade.

 

Later, he checked his messages. There was a _Sorry about that, Keith,_ which meant Shiro had gotten his communicator back from Lance.

 

_It’s okay._

 

_I don’t mind._

 

_I’m glad you guys talked though._

 

_Lance has been feeling down lately._

 

Keith stared at the communicator, shifting from a lying to a sitting position in his bed. He wondered if Lance felt the same as he did. He supposed there was a bigger weight on the Paladins’ shoulders. The risks mounted every day, with each news of Zarkon’s army engaging planets that had chosen to ally with Altea. Keith resolved to be less selfish. He was here to do his duty.

 

After his two weeks of training were up, Kolivan sent Keith back on missions. With his new mantra running in his mind, Keith threw himself into recon with new fervor. He was barely keeping track of the days now; stretches spent planetside always sent his timekeeping off whack, what with the difference in the pull of gravity, and one particular mission had him searching for an elusive piece of machinery in a space graveyard for what felt like decapheebs. All the while he had Shiro’s messages, keeping him sane, with an occasional quip from the Altean Prince. Keith would never admit it, but his pulse sped up a little whenever he realized the latest reply was from Lance instead of Shiro. Shiro was a constant stream of encouragement that Keith always appreciated. But Lance was always casual, bordering on cheeky, and it never failed to make Keith smile.

 

After the space graveyard debacle, Kolivan decided that Keith needed a break. Keith had protested, saying he was fine for any more long-haul missions, but their Commander was firm on his orders.

 

It was supposed to be a simple task. He’d needed to get the latest reports from one of the warships refueling in a nearby planet. In and out; Keith didn’t even have to risk the virus. The Blade was stretched thin recently, and any small-scale attacks were not to be attempted. He’d studied the warships blueprints in advance; his escape route was secure and there were minimal chances of detection.

 

Of course, he had to run smackdab into one of Zarkon’s Druids, who didn’t follow regular patrol patterns. It turned out it wasn’t just any warship; this particular one was in the process of making Robeast parts. Keith had seen the rows of tubes full of yellow material. Whatever this was, he needed to either bring one back to the Blade, or destroy all of it if he couldn’t.

 

His decision oscillated wildly towards the latter as the Druid slammed him telepathically against the wall. Keith hissed in pain as he scrambled to stand up.

 

“What are you?” The Druid stepped closer to his, distaste dripping all over their voice. Keith was glad for the mask securely covering his face.

 

“The last thing you’ll see,” he snarled, and he drew his knife, transforming it into a blade. The Druid hadn’t expected it; the cut was deep, but not immediately fatal. The Druid stumbled backwards, shrieking in pain as they clutching their wound. Keith swung his blade again, and watched in satisfaction as the Druid collapsed on the ground.

 

He could hear footsteps. The guards were probably on alert. He turned on his communicator as he ran. He’d have to abandon his mission now, but he wasn’t going back empty-handed. Snagging several tubes, Keith sent a voice update to the base. “I’m under pursuit. I’ll lose them on my way back.” He hoped that was vague enough in case it was intercepted. He’d have to destroy the communicator if they were able to corner him. He couldn’t risk leaving a trace. His heart was heavy as he headed for his ship. He hadn’t messed up a mission in so long, and now adrenaline surged up in him, a mixture of both fear and panic. _You can’t die here,_ Keith told himself fiercely. _You promised._

 

“Keith?”

 

Keith nearly froze. “Shiro?” The communicator was capable of voice transmissions, but only within close distances. Shiro must be nearby.

 

It was ages since he’d last heard Shiro’s voice. Maybe he was hallucinating; dreaming of the person he wanted the most to hear. Was that something that happened before you died? He hoped not.

 

“Keith, where are you?”

 

The voice was more urgent now. Keith closed his eyes, struggling to control his breathing. “Galra warship,” he said. “Centauri system. Docked at the Kreillig port.” They were firing now. Keith wished he had a shield as he ducked blindly, running haphazardly to avoid getting shot.

 

“We’ll go there,” Shiro replied without hesitation.

 

Keith snapped his eyes open. “Shiro, don’t!” he said.

 

“What? Why not?” He could practically hear Shiro’s frown.

 

Keith leapt into his ship, swearing as another round of Galra soldiers burst into from the other door. He was surrounded on both sides. No matter. He powered up his engine, blasting them as he launched in the air.

 

“It’s too dangerous,” he said. “You can’t risk bringing Voltron here. There’s,” he bit his lip, praying no one would ever intercept this, “they’ve got Robeasts here.”

 

His ship rocked dangerously as he exited into space. Behind him, Galra ships were already in close pursuit. They didn’t seem intent on capturing him, which was good. On the other hand, they were firing heavily enough that Keith knew the orders were to shoot him down dead.

 

“Keith. Keith!” He didn’t have time to reply as one of the fighter jets released their laser fire. He clenched his fist as he piloted in a zigzag motion. He just needed to get to the asteroid belt. He could pilot his way out there. He slammed the accelerator forward.

 

He swerved to avoid fire, but it was difficult as he was pressed on all sides. One grazed the side of his ship, throwing him off-balance. Keith clung to the controls, desperate to regain stability.

 

He gritted his teeth. He considered turning his ship around and attempt an offense, but that meant risking his fighter jet. He had to weigh what was more important. A quick glance at the yellow tubes he’d stolen, stocked at the side of his ship, determined his decision. It was more important to get this back to the Blade.

 

He sped up, taking a deep dive. The Galra ships didn’t expect his sudden change in trajectory. Keith used that moment to fire several shots as he spun around, not pausing to stop. He didn’t need to hit anyone; just enough to confuse them. He made a beeline for the belt again, finally weaving around the space rocks. The ships following him careened off course, unable to follow. Keith laughed wildly. He was nearly free.

 

Then his neck prickled. Keith instinctively hit the brakes, narrowly avoiding colliding with an asteroid himself.

 

Just in front of him, a cannon blast obliterated the space debris in his path. Keith didn’t have to check the screen in his console to see the Galra warship at his heels, the fire having barely missed him.

 

Keith slumped on his seat. For the first time, he became uncomfortably aware how terrified he was.

 

He couldn’t fight this off on his own. And his escape plan was cut off. Keith realized his hands were shaking.

 

“Shiro,” he whispered to the communicator. The words mangled in his throat, barely intelligible. He tried again as the warship loomed over him. “Shiro.”

 

There was no response. Keith swallowed a sob. _Don’t panic,_ he told himself. There had to be a way out. He grabbed the tubes. And if there wasn’t, he’d at least get these on an escape pod and hope the Blade of Marmora could find it.

 

The warship fired again. Keith tried to avoid it, but another fighter jet was waiting for him as he changed directions. The laser fire hit his spacecraft directly, cracking the glass. Keith’s head collided with his cockpit chair at the impact of the shot, the force knocking the air right out of him.

 

Distantly, Keith thought he could hear a lion’s roar. He pressed the button for the escape pod before losing consciousness, his hand still tightly gripping the tubes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...remember when i said i would try to get more chapters out before season 4 came out lmao
> 
> then i got swamped with work and yeah ;w; not sure if this will be canon divergent by the time next week happens but!! SO EXCITED FOR SEASON 4!!! and yes this chapter ends in a cliffhanger ahaha. just trying to imagine a Keith raised by BoM; he's more disciplined but probably also more reckless when his instincts kick in? bad combination, baby. will see if i can sneak in one more update before the 14th rolls up!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOM!KEITH IS CANON I'M LIVING
> 
> anyway weirdly enough season 4 really fired up my emotions to keep writing!! understandably there's a lot less klance in s4 but THE DISTANCE; i feel like there's so much left unsaid and there's excellent potential to fill in the gaps 
> 
> also mmmm keith sacrificing himself!! for the greater good!!!! i was feeling emotional flashbacks to this fic the entire time haha i guess i'm a little proud of seeing that it's part of his character arc Especially if he's left isolated from the team 
> 
> anyway here at least we can explore the consequences of his choices

_“I got you, buddy!”_

 

_“..are you all right...Keith -”_

 

_“Keith!”_

 

There were bright lights overhead. Keith tried to blink, but he couldn’t seem to force his eyelids open. His arms wouldn’t move.

 

“Keith? Stay with me,” a voice murmured. Keith tilted his head closer to the sound. His head was spinning.

 

“You’re going to be okay,” the voice continued. Keith trusted the voice. His eyes fluttered shut. A hand cradled him by the waist. “Just hold on, okay?”

 

Keith tried to nod. He didn’t know how long he stayed like that, listening to the steady breathing. All he knew was that it kept him safe.

 

\--

 

The first thing Keith remembered was the pain. Groaning, he forced himself to sit up. The movement alerted the person who was with him in the room, and in seconds there were hands on his shoulders.

 

“Welcome back,” Shiro said.

 

Keith coughed. “Glad to be back,” he choked out. He looked up. The weight of Shiro’s hands on him was real. He struggled not to let tears fall from his eyes. Shiro was real.

 

Shiro’s hands slid down to his back, and Keith felt his chest pressed lightly against his.

 

“I’m so glad you’re alive,” Shiro said to his neck. Unlike Keith, he didn’t seem to have qualms about crying, and Keith’s shoulder was soon damp.

 

Keith took his time to breathe. His lungs contracted and expanded at his will, though there was pain from his ribs. That was good. It was a sign he was alive.

 

“How’d you know where to find me?” he asked, after Shiro’s muffled crying had quieted down.

 

Shiro shook his head. “My Lion just knew,” he said, his tone wistful. “It knew I wanted to save you. I told you, Keith - I’d always have your back. No matter what.”

 

Shiro hadn’t forgotten. Keith hadn’t, either. “Me too, Shiro,” Keith said, and he wasn’t even ashamed of the way his voice cracked. “Me too.”

 

He stayed in Shiro’s arms until he could no longer hide the strain it put on his chest. He winced, awkwardly, and Shiro released him.

 

“Sorry,” Shiro muttered. Up close Keith could see how red his eyes were, and how lines creased all over his forehead. He looked older than Keith had ever seen him. “I should probably let you rest more.”

 

Keith wanted to insist he was okay, that Shiro could stay, but his body was already protesting. Reluctantly he let Shiro help him lie down in bed again. “Just sleep,” Shiro said. “Altean medicine works wonders. You’ll be okay after a few more vargas.”

 

Keith laughed weakly. “A lot better than what we had, huh?” He remembered weeks spent bedridden with an Earth fever which Galra medicine had no cure. Galra had advancements on military and technology, but healing was never their priority.

 

Shiro touched his forehead. “It’s amazing. They’ve cured wounds other species would die of.”

 

Keith didn’t miss the implied. He closed his eyes so he wouldn’t have to see Shiro’s face drawn with worry. He had many close encounters in their missions together, but perhaps nothing this close to a brush with death.

 

“Sorry, Shiro,” he murmured. The fatigue bogged down on him, and he drifted off to sleep after.

 

\--

 

Keith didn’t know how long he was out, but when he opened his eyes again, he marveled at how good he felt. He sat up, stretching. The pain was completely gone; there was even energy running through him that he hadn’t felt in months. He’d been restless from the constant missions. But now he almost felt could take an adult yalmur one-handed.

 

He slipped out of the bed. His clothes were folded neatly on the chair beside it. Keith changed back into his suit, and he headed out of the room, ready to take on the world.

 

And slammed into Shiro on his way out.

 

“Keith?” Shiro frowned at him, blocking him at the doorway. “What are you doing out of bed?”

 

“I feel fine now, Shiro,” Keith explained. “In fact, I feel better than fine. I feel like I can take down a whole Galra warship by myself.”

 

Shiro snorted. “Buddy, you already tried that and failed.” His lips quirked, as if he wasn’t sure how Keith would respond to such a statement. But Keith was used to Shiro’s idea of a joke, so he didn’t mind too much. If anything, Shiro was the only one who had a sense of humor in the Blade, except if you counted Thace, who sent puns regularly in his reports. Only Ulaz found those amusing.

 

“I’m serious, Shiro,” Keith said, waving his hands. “That Altean medicine must be magic. I’m all pumped up!”  

 

Shiro was still looking at him skeptically. “Like steroids?”

 

Keith frowned. “What’s steroids?”

 

“They’re basically Earth medicine that makes you stronger, I guess,” Shiro said, after a short pause. “But they’re bad,” he added, at Keith’s expression.

 

“How can they be bad?”

 

“It’s complicated,” Shiro said. “Too much of it and it messes you up.” He frowned again. “Hopefully Altean meds don’t do that. I wonder if there’s an effect on non-Altean species. I’ll have to ask Coran.”

 

Keith wasn’t here for Shiro’s moral dilemma on medicine. As far as he was concerned, Altean healing was better than Galra healing. No way was he staying in bed for a whole week anymore.

 

“We have to go,” he said, and he sidestepped Shiro to cross the doorway. “How long have I been out?”

 

Shiro shrugged. “Two, three days?” He kept up with Keith’s pace. “I’d rest more, if I were you. You nearly _died._ ”

 

At Shiro’s words, Keith remembered his last moments at his ship, and his heart lurched. “Is my ship okay?”

 

“It took a lot of damage,” Shiro said, his mouth pursed. “But if anyone can fix it, Hunk can. I brought it over to the Castle and they’re working on repairs right now.”

 

Keith released a sigh of relief. “That’s good to hear.” Another thought crossed his mind. “I took some of those samples they were making at the Galra warship,” he said. “Those yellow tubes. Did those-?”

 

Shiro nodded. “Ulaz and the others have been analyzing it since we salvaged them. You were holding onto those like your life depended on it, Keith. We figured it was important.”

 

They had reached the briefing room. Keith hesitated before entering; he’d learned early on not to interrupt meetings. He hoped to just slink inside unnoticed. But the moment the door slid open, everybody’s heads turned toward them.

 

For a moment the room was silent. Everybody’s masks were off, so Keith was able to read the mixture of shock and disbelief in all of their faces. Keith wished Shiro would step forward, but Shiro nudged him encouragingly to walk ahead. He nervously walked closer to the table, where the main Blade of Marmora members stood.

 

“Keith,” Kolivan breathed finally, his eyes wide with relief. “I’m glad you’ve recovered.”

 

Keith nodded. They gripped each other’s hands tight.

 

The three tubes he’d risked his life for were nestled on the table.

 

“I’m glad you’ve brought these back, Keith,” Ulaz said quietly. “Thace has been sending reports of regarding this ‘quintessence.’ ”

 

Shiro frowned. “Quintessence?”

 

“It’s what’s powering the Robeasts,” Ulaz explained. “I thought it was strange - why was Zarkon conquering smaller planets that didn’t have any military or superior intelligence to counter him? They posed no danger to him. It turns out he’s harvesting the lifeforce of certain planets and turning it into this.” He raised one tube.

 

“It’s very concentrated,” Ulaz continued. “The Druids are keeping it top secret, and that’s why Thace can only discover very little. But with this in our hands, we can pinpoint which galaxies Zarkon may attempt to go to next. So very well done, Keith.” He smiled tiredly.

 

The whole room turned to Keith, watching him closely. Keith felt his face warm. “Just doing my duty,” he muttered.

 

Shiro touched him on the shoulder. “I’m very proud of you Keith,” he said. “You risked your life for this.”

 

Keith cleared his throat. “That’s what any of you would have done.”

 

“Yes,” Kolivan said. “The mission should always come first.” He hesitated, clenching his fist. “I’m glad you came back safe, Keith,” he added softly. There was emotion in his voice that made Keith’s chest feel tight. “You are a valued member of the Blade of Marmora. We have achieved so much with you here.”

 

“Thank you.” Keith could barely get the words out. He wasn’t used to such open praise.

 

“We’ll be analyzing these samples for the time being,” Ulaz said. “You should rest for now, Keith.”

 

He nodded, not wanting to argue further, and Shiro accompanied him back to his quarters.

 

“You did well, Keith,” Shiro said to him.

 

“Thanks, Shiro,” Keith said. The burst of energy that came over him earlier was quickly draining out.  He could feel the tiredness coming back to him in waves, and he collapsed into the bed gratefully.

 

Shiro sat beside him, nudging his stomach with his elbow. “I have to go back to the Castle of Lions,” he said softly. “The Princess let me have a few vargas to check if you’re all right, but we have to move on to the next planet soon.”

 

Keith nodded. He knew his time with Shiro was short, but he desperately wished Shiro could stay longer.

 

Shiro reached out to touch his hair. “You’ve become so strong while I was gone,” he whispered. “I’m proud of you.”

 

There was moisture threatening to spill from his eyes. “Shiro,” he murmured, and instinctively he closed his fingers on Shiro’s wrist. “I wish…” He trailed off. “I wish you didn’t have to go,” he said to his pillow.

 

He felt Shiro pry his fingers away from his wrist gently, only to interlace them with his own. “I could take you with me,” Shiro murmured. “Kolivan would let you, if you asked. They’d do anything for you, Keith. You’re like a son to them.”

 

The first tear slid down his cheek. “I can’t,” Keith said, his heart heavy. He wanted, desperately, to ask Shiro to stay with him instead. It was selfish of him, but Shiro was his rock. Keith had been lost without him. “I can’t go with you, Shiro. The Blade is my home.” This was where he belonged. Here he was needed.

 

Shiro’s hand was warm against his. “Ok,” Shiro said, with a sigh. “I understand. But if you need me, Keith, just tell me. I’ll find you. Anywhere in the galaxy. I will come for you.”

 

Keith could only nod. He fell asleep with the warmth of Shiro’s hand in his.

 

When he woke up, the warmth was gone.

 

\--

 

If Keith thought that training for two weeks was a bore, then he had yet to do the rounds for Blade of Marmora outposts. It was a task that kept you out of any important activity; it was mostly gathering reports from spies all over. Keith had never done it before because they usually had him doing field work.

 

But after his run-in with the Druids, Kolivan had sentenced him to outpost duty for an entire month. Keith had opened his mouth to argue, but Kolivan silenced him with one look. “This is your task,” he said sternly. “You will do as you are told.”

 

“I’m fine, Kolivan!” Keith protested. “Perfectly healed.”

 

“Your ship’s out of commission,” Kolivan pointed out calmly. “We can’t spare another fighter jet for you. You will take the pod and check all outposts for all incoming reports.”

 

“Why can’t someone else do this?”

 

“Ulaz is busy analyzing the quintessence samples,” Kolivan said. “This is just as important as anything else, Keith. Do your duty.”

 

Keith stormed out of the room.

 

He almost wished he’d taken up Shiro’s offer to join the Castle of Lions. They were out there in the thick of the war. But of course - they were defenders of the universe. They had the most important duty of all.

 

Ulaz intercepted him before he headed out for his mission. “Don’t take this too badly, Keith,” he said softly.

 

Keith sighed. He wasn’t a child to throw a tantrum. “It’s fine, Ulaz,” he said. “Kolivan’s right - this is just as important. We’re providing information to the Voltron Alliance.”

 

“That’s right,” Ulaz said, nodding. He handed Keith a small chip. “Send that over to Thace for me, please.”

 

Keith took the chip. “Don’t we usually just receive messages?” he asked, curious. They kept a one-way communication, to lessen chances of detection. Unless there were very important movements to impart to the spies, they usually kept them in the dark. It made them safer, in a sense.

 

“It’s encrypted, don’t worry,” Ulaz reassured him. “Only Thace and I know the code.” At Keith’s doubtful expression, Ulaz explained further. “I have some questions on the quintessence that he may be able to answer. The faster we learn how Zarkon is harnessing the power for the Robeasts, the faster we can launch a true counterattack.”

 

That made sense. “Thace must have his hands full,” Keith said.

 

There was a quiet pain in Ulaz’s eyes. “Indeed,” he agreed, his tone clipped. He patted Keith gently on the shoulder before leaving the hangar. Keith watched him go. He had never understood Ulaz’s attachment to Thace; they were all brothers in the Blade, after all, but their bond was deeper than the brotherhood. Recent events, however, made him see it in a new light. He’d never been close with anyone but Shiro before, and now he knew what it felt to constantly worry about someone far away. At least he had a communicator. Ulaz only had reports to rely on.

 

The Blade of Marmora had a number of hidden outposts all over the galaxy. Without his fighter jet, it would take Keith more than a day to travel from one to another. Fortunately, all he had to do was get the report and leave. Ulaz sometimes had outpost duty for months since he was in-charge of both retrieval and analysis.

 

Keith was already in his fifth outpost, located in the Thaldycon system, when he found the latest report sent in by Thace. He figured this was a good place as any to send Ulaz’s message. He keyed in Ulaz’s chip, the encrypted message flashing on the screen before being downloaded in the system.

 

He hoped Thace would get it without any interference. After he finished retrieving Thace's report, he headed back to his pod and inputted the coordinates for the next outpost.

 

The next few days were spent in the same manner. Keith was bored out of his mind; he travelled stealthily, undetected by most ships, moving at a pace that was comically glacial to his usual speed. Even hearing Shiro's updates on their recent Voltron exploits didn't cheer him up. If anything, it just frustrated him more. He could be out there, making a difference. Instead, he was stuck here, gathering intel he couldn't even read.

 

With the Galra Empire spread far away, the Blade of Marmora had set up communications bases all over the universe. Keith had never realized how many of them they were until he had to go to them one by one. He'd gone through about half of their outposts when his communicator sounded. Keith was surprised; rarely did the Blade initiate contact unless it was highly necessary. He checked his messages; it was Ulaz, requesting his immediate return.

 

 _I'll be back in a quintent_ , he replied quickly, and then changed course. A steady sort of terror crept up in his heartbeat with each passing tick. He desperately wished he could make the pod accelerate.

 

When he got back to the headquarters, he ran straight for the briefing room. He could already hear the voices even before he stepped in.

 

"...was too risky, Ulaz!" Kolivan was saying, arms folded. Behind him, Antok stood straight, the mask not divulging his expression. But Kolivan's spoke enough for both of them. His whole was face was set with disapproval. "You cannot keep acting out of line. We have protocols for this!"

 

"We wait and we risk more than our safety!" Ulaz replied. "You forget, Zarkon already knows there is a spy. He has begun combing their ranks every day."

 

"Then you've compromised Thace with your own foolishness!" Kolivan thundered back. Keith hesitated at the door. This didn't seem like a conversation he wanted to walk in. He was about to step back out when Kolivan glanced at him.

 

"Keith," he said, his tone changing to forced calm. "You're back."

 

"Ulaz asked me to come back," Keith said. "What's happening?"

 

The commander pursed his lips. Ulaz stepped forward. "We've barely made a breakthrough on Zarkon's extraction methods, I'm afraid," he said. "The Druids are involved. Possibly there's technology they've developed for it. But that isn't our main concern. The Druids have yet to refine their techniques."

 

"That's good, right?" Keith said. "It'll take them longer to make more."

 

"Yes," Ulaz said. "But it also means they're looking for alternate sources for it." He glanced at Kolivan, who snorted and unfolded his arms. His next words were not what Keith was expecting.

 

"Your mother was a Druid," he said to Keith.

 

It was like being splashed with freezing water. "What?"

 

"She was amongst Haggar's best," Kolivan continued. "Perhaps it was her exposure to their activities that made her see the true cruelty of the empire. She defected and joined the Blade, but even then we were wary of her."

 

"What does this have to do with anything?" Keith said, his voice small. Never had they spoken so openly about his mother until this moment. He felt nauseous; like the first time he had been ejected in space and realized there was no gravity to fall back on.

 

"She presumably knew about the quintessence," Ulaz chimed in.

 

"Though she never found it important to tell us, apparently," Antok muttered behind the two. Keith's heart lurched.

 

"Indeed," Kolivan said. "Your mother, she preferred not to stay on base, claiming she posed a risk in case they tracked her down. So she worked remotely, from planet to planet. Then we lost contact with her; we only managed to trace you using the ceremonial blade she left with you. We never knew her fate."

 

Keith opened his mouth. Closed it. He tried to talk, but the words wouldn't come. "Did she - did she just leave me there? On Earth?"

 

Ulaz's eyes were sympathetic. "We don't know, Keith," he said. "We didn't even know you existed, until we made a serious attempt to recover her blade. We found you instead, and scans indicated you had Galra blood. So we brought you back with us."

 

"Further examination showed you were her of-kin," Kolivan said. "We had to be sure, of course. Other Galra could have begun colonizing Earth without our knowledge."

 

"But - why Earth? Why leave me there?" Keith said. _Why even have me_ , he thought miserably. What had she been thinking? Why had she even decided to have a child in the middle of a war?

 

Ulaz shook his head. "I'm afraid we have no answers for that," he said quietly. "But it seems you are not the only thing she left on Earth."

 

Keith's head snapped up.

 

"There's an inordinate amount of quintessence being detected on the planet," Ulaz said. "The Galra Empire has probably never thought to search for it, as they manufacture. What they search for instead is the raw material they need to generate. But after gaining the samples I tried a search for something of a similar substance - and the only place that has the final product is there."

 

"You mean - she hid quintessence on Earth?"

 

"Yes," Kolivan said. "And we better get it. Before the Galra realize it's out there."


	7. Chapter 7

Keith had never imagined he'd ever go to Earth.

 

It was some strange fantasy place that Shiro often talked about. His birthplace, though he had no memories of it. Keith felt no attachment to the planet. To him it was just somewhere in the universe. He had never ever thought of visiting it, except maybe if Shiro were with him.

 

But now here he was, careening directly towards it. In his absence, the Castle of Lions had returned his fighter jet, restored to its former glory. Keith marveled at how good the Altean technicians were. They could fix anything.

 

He glanced at the coordinates the Blade had given him. It was exactly where they had found him, apparently. They hoped that wherever his mother had left the quintessence, it would be nearby.

 

Keith gritted his teeth. His mother never made anything easy for him.

 

He was already entering Earth's atmosphere when he realized he'd forgotten to update Shiro of his latest mission. Shiro himself hadn't been messaging recently; probably busy being a paladin of Voltron. All Keith had been saying for the past two weeks was about how all the Blade of Marmora outposts looked the same. Shiro probably thought he didn't have any exciting news to share.

 

Keith started to grin. He'd just have to tell Shiro after this was all over.

 

He found a place to land. It was already night time on the planet, with little artificial light in the area. There was endless brown sand, though he found towering rock formations ideal for hiding his ship. Stealth mode was activated, anyway, which would prevent any unknowing aliens from stumbling upon it, but Keith wasn't taking his chances. Earth was still primitive, without any knowledge about space exploration and other planets. Keith hoped to avoid contact as much as possible.

 

He took out the sensor Ulaz had provided him. It was hastily constructed, but it would suit his purpose fine. Their earlier hopes were right; wherever his mother had left him, so many years ago, was the same place she'd left the quintessence. Hopefully nobody else had stumbled upon it. He began to walk around the area, careful to note the activity detected in the sensor.

 

He had walked about fifty feet when the sensor began to beep faster. Keith looked up; there was a small hollow opening among the rocks. He slipped inside the underground cavern, touching the cave walls as his guide. The beeping sounds echoed throughout the cave. 

 

He saw a light ahead. Keith’s breath hitched. He wondered what the quintessence he’d find would be like. Had his mother kept it in tiny tubes, or had it freed itself somehow in the many years it stayed hidden in the depths of the planet?

 

The passage began to narrow. Keith pressed himself against the wall, moving sideways until he emerged on the other side. 

 

The light shone straight at him. Keith squinted, covering his eyes.

 

“Holy shit,” the light said, and began to shake. “I’m seeing an alien. An. Actual. Alien!”

 

Keith looked past the trembling light. It was coming from a small handheld device, which was currently in the hands of an Earthling about half his size. The Earthling’s eyes were wide behind some round reflective glasses. 

 

Keith cursed under his breath. So much for his plan to avoid contact. He couldn’t go back the passageway - it was too small and limited his movements. A quick look around the area showed it was a dead end; with only a few feet of space to maneuver beyond the high ceiling. 

 

There was no other way out of it. Keith stepped forward. He was just going to knock this Earthling out and then get on with his search. If he was lucky, the concussion would make them completely forget this ever happened.

 

The Earthling scrambled back as Keith walked towards them. “Whoa whoa whoa! Please don’t hurt me,” they said. “Uh. We come in peace. Or at least I do. Oh god, they never taught us in the Garrison what to do if you actually encounter alien species-”

 

Keith slammed forward. The Earthling let out a shout, tripping backwards over a rock.They let go of the light device in the process; stunning Keith momentarily. At the same moment, the sensor began to beep incessantly.  

 

Keith swiped at the device angrily, letting it shine the light elsewhere. He glanced at the Earthling, who was now huddled on the ground, clutching their bag. There was a faint glow in inside it. Keith frowned.

 

“Hey, no!” The Earthling said, as Keith tried to pry the bag from them. “That’s mine - no!” Unexpectedly, they sank their teeth in Keith’s arm. The teeth were blunt, like his, nothing like Galra canines that could actually tear flesh, and the suit took away most of the damage, but the act shocked Keith enough to let go. “I found this,” they said, angrily. “Go away and find your own!”

 

Keith hissed under his breath. Just his luck to run into some grabby Earthling. They probably had no idea what they had in their possession. Keith wanted to avoid killing anyone as much as possible, but if this Earthling proved troublesome, then he had to do something about it. He tried to grab the Earthling’s wrist, but they kicked him and ran for the passageway.

 

Keith tackled him midway. They rolled on the ground, elbows on each other. The Earthling was small but surprisingly quick and loose-limbed. Struggling to keep them pinned, Keith reached for his knife and then held it up against the Earthling’s throat. Only then did the Earthling stop resisting. Keith could see the terror in their eyes, and he hated it. He wasn’t like the Galra Empire. They didn’t need to subjugate other species to prove their strength. 

 

Keith pulled the bag away from the Earthling’s arms with one hand, the other still pinning the Earthling down. He slowly stood up, tucking the knife away. He saw the confusion in the Earthling’s eyes, but Keith wasn’t here to explain. He emptied the bag, to the Earthling’s shouts. 

 

“Stop! You’re going to break something!” They cried. Keith ignored them, allowing the contents to fall on the ground where he could see them. Finally he found what he was looking for; a tube, similar to the one he’d stolen from the Galra warship, though triple its size. Inside was the same yellow-y liquid. Keith held his breath. Quintessence.

 

He held it up towards the Earthling, who folded their arms and scowled.

 

“I found that,” they muttered. “So it’s technically mine.”

 

Keith cocked his head. He wondered if there was more. He supposed he could ask, but he didn’t want to let the Earthling know he could understand them. That way there were less questions. He was beginning to form a plan on how to make the Earthling show him where they found it when the ground began to shake. 

 

“What - ” the Earthling started. Keith looked up at the ceiling. It was beginning to crack. If he didn’t hurry, he might end up buried here. He swung his knife, revealing the blade. Now was no time to be careful anymore. He charged at the passageway, cutting through the rock, one hand still clutching the tube quintessence. He could hear the Earthling’s footsteps after him. Keith was glad he hadn’t knocked them out after all. He didn’t want the death of an unsuspecting Earthling on his hands. 

 

They reached the wider path of the cave, closer to the entrance. The shaking was more pronounced now, with debris falling all around his head, so Keith quickened his pace. It was probably thirty more ticks before they could get out of the cave. Hopefully at that time it wouldn’t collapse.

 

“Slow down!” The Earthling hissed, panting. “I can’t see anything!”

 

Keith paused. He could see perfectly fine. “You can’t?” he said, baffled enough to actually forget not to engage in conversation.

 

The Earthling huffed. “Of course I don’t, I’m not some freaking alien with night vision or anything,” they replied, their tone eerily similar to Shiro’s whenever he was being particular self-depreciating. “Wait - oh my god. YOU CAN TALK.”

 

Keith shut his mouth. The Earthling opened their mouth again, but Keith was distracted by a sudden light. Instinctively he ran at the Earthling, pressing them down to the ground, as laser fire rained on them. 

 

The Galra had found him. 

 

Keith grabbed the tube and pressed it on the Earthling’s hands. “No matter what happens, don’t let go of this,” he ordered. 

 

“Okay, but - whoaaaa!” Without further ado, Keith slung the Earthling on his shoulder and began to run as fast as he could. He kept his knife on his hand. When they finally reached the cave entrance, Keith flung the Earthling on the soft brown sand, leaping at the Galra jet shooting at them. He drew his blade, slicing at the front of the cockpit, then swung off to avoid the explosion. He picked up the Earthling again, running for the direction of his ship.

 

“That was insane!” The Earthling was yelling. “Also - uh - there’s more of them behind us!”

 

Keith glanced a backwards look. There were three Galra jets trained on them. Keith picked up his pace. 

 

“They’re gaining on us!”

 

Keith gritted his teeth. If he was alone he would be fine. But the added weight of the Earthling slowed him down. But if he left them here, the Galra was definitely going to kill them. Keith couldn’t let that happen. He slowed down, putting the Earthling down again. 

 

“Wait - what are you doing?” they asked frantically.

 

“Shut up and trust me,” Keith said, and he turned to face the jets again. He flicked his wrist, drawing his knife. He only had one shot for this.

 

The jets prepared to fire. Keith flicked the knife in a calculated arc, transforming it into a blade mid-air, and watched it cut through all three in one go. The ensuing explosion was the most satisfying thing Keith had seen in awhile.

 

He turned to the Earthling, whose mouth was open in shock. Keith grinned, catching his knife with his hand again.

 

“That,” the Earthling said, “is the possibly the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in my whole life. Think you can do that again for that really big one?”

 

Keith glanced back. Sure enough, a Galra warship was starting to loom in the distance. Keith just had the best of luck recently.

 

“We’d better run,” Keith said. 

 

\--

 

The Galra warship was deploying more fighters. Keith had no idea how he was going to outrun them this time. Things were looking pretty bleak. 

 

“Do you have a ship?” The Earthling asked as they struggled to keep up with Keith. “Any idea how to fight those off?”

 

“We can’t fight them,” Keith said. “There’s too many.”

 

“No shit!” The Earthling said. “So what’s the plan, Mr. Alien?”

 

“The plan is we don’t die,” Keith said, and he picked up the Earthling again. They were running too slow at this rate. Was there a place he could hide out on Earth? But no; the warship would tear this place apart for him. He winced. Shiro would be so upset. He wanted to keep Earth away from the intergalactic conflict. 

 

Shiro...Keith wished he would show up again and save him. But he couldn’t depend on Shiro for everything. He’d already become far too dependent on Shiro for everything. He took a deep breath. He’d find a way out of this.

 

They were almost at his ship when the Galra warship fired. Keith dove, curling into a ball to avoid getting hit, the Earthling tucked beneath him. Fighter jets descended upon them.

 

A loud roar echoed in the wasteland.

 

Something crashed on the jets above them. Keith scrambled to avoid a giant metallic paw. He looked up, not daring to believe it. It was a Voltron Lion. “Shiro?” he whispered, in awe.

 

The Lion rose up, thrashing at the Galra ships while simultaneously shooting with its tail. In mere ticks half the fleet was wiped out. In mid-motion it was difficult to distinguish the color, but Keith swore he could make out a blue sheen.

 

The Lion then rounded on both of them, dropping on its forelegs and scooping them with its mouth. They tumbled into the Lion’s helm, a jumble of legs.

 

“Ouch,” the Earthling moaned softly as they struggled to stand. The pilot turned his head to look at them from the cockpit, grinning. 

 

“Yes, hello, no need to thank me for saving your lives,” he said airily, pumping his chest. “The Blue Paladin is here at your service.” He winked at them.

 

“Uhm,” the Earthling said. “Thanks, I guess.”

 

Keith laughed as he dusted himself off. “Guess you’re the hero this time.”

 

“I’m always the hero! Wait - ” Lance squinted at him. “Do I know you?”

 

Keith flushed. Obviously Lance wouldn’t have known it was him with his mask on. “Uh. It’s me. Keith,” he mumbled. They haven’t talked in awhile. Maybe Lance had forgotten him. He was, after all, a Paladin of Voltron, and the Prince of Altea.

 

“What? Sorry, I didn’t hear that,” Lance said, cocking his head. Instinctively Keith took a step back. “Hey, don’t worry, I come in peace and all that - ”

 

“Guys,” the Earthling said. “I know your conversation is like, really important, but that big ship is coming straight at us right now, so maybe we should focus on that instead?”

 

Keith looked up. The Galra warship was almost upon them. 

 

“Right,” Lance said, pushing the controls forward. “Come on, girl, let’s show them what we’re made of.” The Blue Lion roared in agreement, and they jumped back into the fray. 

 

Keith never imagined he’d see the power and strength of a Voltron Lion up close. It was amazing; it could clearly stand against a single Galra warship by itself. It took down the cannon and ripped the sides with a jaw sword. 

 

“Whoa,” the Earthling said, pushing up their glasses. “I take back what I said earlier.  _ This _ is now the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

 

“And so long, suckers,” Lance said, crowing as he shot down the remaining fighter jets. “Wow, that felt good.” He stretched his arms. 

 

“You were awesome out there,” the Earthling said, rushing to his side.

 

“I know right?” Lance grinned. “All in a day’s job.”

 

“Who were those guys anyway?” the Earthling continued. “Why were they after us? Or well...you,” they said, turning to Keith.

 

Keith squirmed, uncomfortable with the sudden attention. "They're probably looking for that," he said, motioning to the tube that was still held tightly in the Earthling's hands.

 

"This?" The Earthling raised it up. "What is this, anyway?"

 

"Quintessence," Lance answered. "Galra use it to power their ships...and other things."

 

The Earthling frowned. "Galra?"

 

"The bad guys," Lance said. "Well...most of them, anyway." He looked up at Keith. "You're one of those Marmorites, right?"

 

Keith blinked. “What?”

 

“You know! From the Blade of Marmora!”

 

Keith stared in mild disbelief. He tried to imagine how Kolivan would react to being called a Marmorite. 

 

“I’d know that fancy suit anywhere,” Lance said. “The mask screams bad guy, but don’t worry. He’s good Galra," Lance continued, turning to the Earthling. "The name's Lance, by the way. Paladin of Voltron, at your service." He stood up and bowed at them.

 

"Cool," The Earthling said. "My name's Pidge. Uh, so you're aliens, right?"

 

"Yup," Lance said. "Working to defend the universe. And you're from Earth!"

 

Pidge frowned. "How can you tell?"

 

Lance laughed. "It's the ears," he said, and he took off his helmet.  

 

Pidge's eyes were huge as they stared at Lance's face; specifically, his pointy ears. "You've met other Earthlings? Out there in space?"

 

"Oh, yeah! Our leader is from Earth. You might know him - he's like, really strong and amazing. His name's Shiro!"

 

"Shiro?" Pidge looked stunned. "You mean Takashi Shirogane?"

 

Keith tensed up. He'd never heard anyone refer to Shiro as anything else. "You know Shiro?" he demanded.

 

"He's - he was the pilot of the Kerberos mission,” Pidge said, the words tumbling out of their mouth. “I need to see him. Are there other Earthlings with him?”

 

“I can take you to him,” Lance offered. “And what about the other Earthlings? Are you also looking for Keith?”

 

Pidge blinked. “Who’s Keith?”

 

Keith had a split second to feel complete terror at how Lance would describe him. Lance’s face was scrunched up in thought. 

 

“He’s this great pilot,” Lance said eventually, with a soft smile. “Though he’s always out there doing dangerous things. I hope he’s doing ok right now.”

 

Keith was very thankful for the mask he was wearing right now.

 

“Sorry, I don’t know any Keiths,” Pidge said. “But do you know a Matt Holt? Or Sam Holt? They were with Shiro when they went on a space mission. They’ve been missing for over a year now.”

 

Lance frowned. “No, sorry. Shiro’s never mentioned anyone with those names.”

 

The Earthling’s shoulders slumped. 

 

Lance put a reassuring hand on the Earthling’s back. “Hey, don’t worry,” he said. “I’m sure Shiro knows something. And we’ve got an intergalactic network. Surely someone would have information on them.” He glanced at Keith, who shrugged. He hadn’t noticed any other Earthlings when they took Shiro out of the Galra warship, and Shiro had never spoken about them. 

 

“I need to find them,” Pidge murmured. “That’s my brother and father.”

 

A painful emotion crossed Lance’s face. Keith wondered if he recalled his own father. “Of course,” Lance said, nodding. “We’ll do everything we can. Don’t worry, Pidge.”

 

Pidge gave Lance a tight smile. “Thanks.”

 

Lance made it look so easy to be kind. Keith focused his gaze elsewhere, uncomfortably aware of an unexplained rumble in his chest. Maybe he’d taken a hit earlier, and the bruise was only starting to hurt. The air in the Blue Lion felt suffocating. 

 

He stared hard at the windshield, taking in the endless brown. He’d always thought Earth would be full of life, like Altea. But this area seemed barren and dead. Maybe that was why his mother had hidden out here. 

 

Keith remembered the quintessence. Reluctantly, he joined Lance and Pidge, and took the yellow tube from Pidge’s hands. “Hey!” Pidge said, with a half-hearted protest.

 

Keith held it out of their reach. “Where did you find this?” he asked. “Were there more of this?”

 

“Rude!” Pidge said, attempting to take it back without much success. “I don’t know if there’s more,” they said. “But I can show you where I found it.”

 

Lance dove back for his seat, strapping his helmet back on. “Then we better get cracking. Lead the way, Pidge.”

 

Pidge took out a primitive device and tapped on it. “Let me load the GPS,” they said.

 

Lance raised an eyebrow. “You don’t have the coordinates? I could just autopilot us there.”

 

Pidge huffed. “I’m sorry, but Earth technology isn’t quite up to par with your alien one.”

 

Lance shrugged. “Figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask.” They began to follow a virtual map on Pidge’s device. 

 

“Why are you here?” Keith asked Lance in an undertone as Pidge watched the Blue Lion sprint towards their destination, completely entranced by the speed. “Shouldn’t you be with the rest of Voltron?”

 

Lance’s eyes flickered downward. “I’m on a solo mission for now,” he said. “Things are - well. I’m not sure how much Shiro tells your Marmorites, but Zarkon’s Robeasts are a real danger. Which is why he have to stop him from getting anymore quintessence. They’ve alerted us that there’s a stash hidden away here somewhere - they’ve sent someone ahead, I’m guessing that’s you, but we also got word that the Galra already clued in on it. We definitely can’t let this fall into their hands.”

 

Keith nodded. That made sense. “Where’s Shiro?”

 

“He’s - working on his bonding,” Lance said, his wording deliberately vague. Keith frowned. Shiro often talked of bonding exercises, but from what Keith could glean from his stories, he and the Black Lion were forging something unprecedented in such a short amount of time.

 

“I thought - ” Keith began, and thought better of it. The Voltron pilots had a bond he couldn’t dare fathom. A few anecdotes didn’t make him an expert on their training. 

 

“We’re close,” Pidge said suddenly, and in a matter of ticks the Blue Lion pulled to a stop before another cave, this time at the bottom of a crag. 

 

Keith turned to Lance. “I’ll go in,” he said. “Both of you can stay here.” He tossed the tube back to Pidge, who stepped forward to catch it with a muffled shriek.

 

After tucking the quintessence back into their bag, Pidge pushed up their glasses. “I can lead you to where it is,” they offered. 

 

Keith shook his head. “It might be dangerous,” he said. “And I have this, so I’ll be fine.” He held up his tracking device.

 

Lance stood up. “I should go with you too,” he argued. “What if the Galra are there already?”

 

“I’ll be fine, Lance,” Keith said. “Besides, you can’t leave Pidge here alone in the Blue Lion. And if the Galra do come, you can cover for me until I get out.”

 

Lance folded his arms. “That’s - ugh, sensible,” he said, twisting his lower lip. “But be careful.” Keith nodded, tucking the device back into his pocket. Obediently the Lion opened its’ mouth, and Keith leapt down, landing with one bent knee. He headed straight for the cave, pulling the device out again. He had no time to waste. If the Galra were really after the quintessence, they wouldn’t be sending just one warship. 

 

Fortunately the device was already on a low hum the moment he stepped into the cave, with increasing beeps as he went in deeper. Then the device started shaking, and Keith knew he’d found it. He dropped to the ground, hacking at it with his blade. There were small cracks on the soil; some enough to slip his hand through. Perhaps this was how Pidge had stumbled on the tube they’d found. Years of moving plate tectonics had probably dislodged the quintessence.

 

“Come on,” Keith muttered as sweat poured down his forehead. How deep had his mother buried it? Now he wished he let Lance come with him. He could shoot through the ground faster than Keith could burrow through this.

 

Light began to trickle out beneath the soil. Encouraged, Keith plowed faster. Soon, he uncovered enough ground that there was light all around his knees.

 

He thrust his whole arm inside, grasping around until he felt a cylindrical shape. He closed his fist around it and pulled it out. Keith let out a sigh of relief at the shining tube of quintessence in his hands. 

 

The ground shook a little. Keith scrambled to stand, senses on alert for another Galra attack, but when no lasers rained on him, he relaxed. He went back to hacking the soil, now easier to unpile with the hole he’d made. 

 

The light from the quintessence was blinding. Keith swallowed. His mother had hidden a tremendous amount of it here, apparently. The entirety of the floor he was stepping on was full of the yellow tubes.

 

He was going to need more than two arms for this. 

 

He grabbed three more tubes and was about to run for the entrance when he heard a loud roar.  Keith pressed himself against the cave walls as the stalactites began to shake. A strong blast sent part of the wall across him in a collapse, providing him a view of one mechanical eye. The lion moved, and the mouth poked through the hole instead. Pidge came tumbling out. “The bad guys are back,” they said, hands flapping nervously. “And this time there’s more of them.”

 

Keith thrust the tubes into Pidge’s arms. “Take them and go,” he said. “I’ll get more and join you in the Blue Lion.  _ Don’t _ drop any of them.”

 

“Got it,” Pidge said, muffled under the weight of the tubes. “Don’t take too long!” They sprinted back to the waiting mouth. The lion swallowed Pidge and moved; presumably to avoid the volley of lasers. Keith crawled back to the hole on the ground on all fours, grabbing as much he could, before heading to the opening. There were three Galra warships this time, all trained on the Blue Lion. Lance was doing his best to maintain offense, but the number of ships made it hard to counterattack. 

 

The lion spun midway, spraying a volley of ice over the warships’ cannons, freezing them mid-shot. Then she somersaulted back to where Keith was. Keith didn’t even hesitate; he jumped midway and let the lion catch him.

 

“Dude!” Lance complained as he landed in the cockpit in a barrel roll. “What if I missed you?”

 

“You wouldn’t,” Keith said. He was confident in what Lance could do. “You’ve got great aim.”

 

Even underneath the helmet, he could tell Lance’s face was flushed. “Aim is different from catch, dumbass!”

 

Pidge coughed. “Guys, I hate to break it up but...we’ve got incoming.”

 

The ice on the cannons had melted, and they were trained right at them. The Blue Lion leapt to safety just as they fired.

 

“There’s still some quintessence at the cave!” Keith shouted as Lance began to maneuver away. “We can’t let them take it.”

 

“Then what do you suggest? You can’t keep going back to get more,” Lance said, turning back to ram one Galra warship against the other. He shot down fighter jets surrounding them. “We’re sitting ducks here if we just stay here!”

 

Keith let the tubes down gently on the floor. “Lower me down,” Keith said. “I can help.”

 

“Are you kidding me?” Lance said incredulously, turning to face him. “You don’t even have a ship!”

 

“Lance,” Keith said. “Trust me.”

 

Lance looked at him with a frown. “Okay,” he said, heaving a sigh. “Your funeral, Mr. Marmorite.” He jumped away from one warship with one last well-placed shot, eliminating the cannon.

 

Pidge stood between them. “What can I do to help?” Keith marveled at them. Maybe fearlessness was something all Earthlings had in common. They definitely had the same steely look Shiro had.

 

“Stay here for now,” Keith said. “It’s safer in the Blue Lion. Once we’re clear, Lance can bring you down and you can help us harvest the quintessence.”

 

He took out his blade. After a nod, Lance snapped open the Blue Lion’s jaw, and Keith jumped, landing straight on an incoming Galra jet. He broke the glass forcefully, twisting his body to avoid the shards, and he grabbed the wide-eyed Galra pilot and sliced their neck. 

 

Keith squeezed into the seat, tossing the dead body out of the cracked window, and steered the jet before it could collide into the cliffs. Once he regained control, he began to shoot down at all other Galra jets. He had the element of surprise with him; the Galra hadn’t expected to be shot down by their own jet. Keith grinned to himself.

 

With the Galra jets in disarray, the Blue Lion was free to take down the warships with less distractions. When Keith was done on his end, he rose up to assist Lance with the last remaining warship. He accelerated the jet to head straight for the cannon as he unstrapped himself. He jumped off ticks before it collided, and he had the satisfaction to see the cannon explode mid-air as the Blue Lion clamped its large jaws over the warship’s hull, crushing it. 

 

Keith landed on the brown sand, his heart pumping so fast he swore he could feel it in his ears. He couldn’t believe he’d done that. He laughed, lying with his back on the ground, as he listened to the sounds of a destroyed Galra warship.

 

He’d never imagined he’d feel satisfaction like this. 

 

He was still in the same position when the Blue Lion landed gently beside him; the sand displacing all around him. Keith coughed, closing his eyes to avoid the dust. 

 

“You are insane!” Lance was hollering as he ran out of his lion. “Holy quiznak, that was - how did you even do that? I’ve never seen anyone fight like that!”

 

Keith could barely hold back a grin. “And you told me I wouldn’t last a day fighting Galra,” he said, chuckling.

 

Lance stared at him. He must have taken off his helmet before heading down, because Keith was now face-to-face with those blue, blue eyes. All of the sudden it was like Keith was back to the first time they talked; when Lance had challenged him out of nowhere and Keith hadn’t known what to say. The same trill of panic was shooting up his spine.

 

“...Keith?” Lance managed, his face scrunched up.

 

Keith flushed. Lance hadn’t realized it was him the whole time. It was too late now to take back what he said. “Uh. Hi.” He deactivated his mask, feeling nervous and vulnerable.

 

“Oh,” Lance said, his mouth a perfect O. His eyes were so wide and so blue. Keith swallowed. Had he done something wrong? He didn’t think he’d ever come across a speechless Lance before. 

 

The growing silence was broken by approaching footsteps.

 

“You both are out of this world,” Pidge said, panting as they ran up to them, face pink with exertion. “I mean that both literally and figuratively. Man, I thought all those sci-fi movies were exaggerating. Space wars are no joke. I thought I was going to die every time Lance spun his lion over -”

 

They stopped to stare at Keith. “What the fuck,” they said, their expression matching Lance’s. “What - you look human. Do Galras look human?”

 

Lance seemed to snap out of it. “It’s Galra, not Galras,” he said. Then he winced. “Oh quiznak, I sound just like my sister. I have been hanging around her way too much.”

 

Pidge was still staring at Keith. “Why do you look like me?” they demanded. “Is this some freaky alien thing - I mean, are human beings the eventual bad guys of the universe? Is that it? Global warming fucked us up, didn’t it?”

 

“I’m part Galra,” Keith said, to stop their rambling. “They said I might be part Earthling, but I...I never knew for sure until I met Shiro. He’s the only alien who looks like me.”

 

“Well there’s eight billion more over here,” Pidge murmured. “Holy shit. So you’re human...and you did all that…”

 

“Shiro does more on a regular basis,” Keith said. “Why would you think Earthlings are inferior?”

 

Pidge ducked their head, scratching their neck. “I - you’re right,” they said, softly. “I’m just - there’s this whole universe out there we don’t know about. We’ve only just begun space exploration; how would we know how we measure up to all the species out there?”

 

“You’re capable of anything if you learn,” Keith told them. He believed that wholeheartedly.  _ Knowledge or death.  _ You learn or you die trying. 

 

Lance thumped Keith on the shoulder. “Excellent pep talk there, Keith,” he said.

 

Pidge frowned. “Keith? So wait...he’s the guy you were talking about earlier?”

 

Lance’s face turned varying shades of red. “What? I don’t recall anything,” he said, studiously avoiding Keith’s gaze. There was an ugly feeling in Keith’s stomach. Maybe Lance hadn’t meant it when he said Keith was a good pilot after all.

 

“You said he was-” Lance clamped a hand over Pidge’s mouth.

 

“Anyway, we better get the rest of the quintessence,” Lance said loudly, ignoring Pidge’s flailing. He began to drag Pidge with him. “Let’s hurry up before another Galra warship shows up!”

 

Keith followed them into the cave, slightly despondent. To Lance it was probably a throwaway line, but Keith had been pleased Lance had remembered his flying at the last battle with the Galra. If there was one thing Keith prided in, it was in his piloting skills. But then again, Lance probably said nice things about everyone.

 

The hidden quintessence glowed softly as they approached the area. Lance let out a low whistle.

 

“That is a  _ lot  _ of quintessence,” he said. “Okay, I’ll pilot my girl in and let’s get all of these out of this planet. We’re lucky this is a non-populated area. Don’t want any more curious Earthlings stumbling on this.” He grinned at Pidge, who rolled their eyes in response.

 

Once they’d put all the quintessence in the Blue Lion, Lance turned to Keith. “You should come back to the Castle of Lions with us,” he said. “Shiro misses you, a lot. He’s been worried about you since - uh.” He trailed off as he turned his face away. Keith felt his own face flushing this time. How embarrassing. Had Shiro told all of the Voltron pilots of his near-death experience? He hadn’t wanted Lance to know.

 

But it would be inevitable. After all, Shiro had gone to rescue him. They’d want to know where he had gone for a quintent. 

 

“I have to go back and report to the Blade,” Keith said. “I left my ship out here.” He gestured vaguely to the cliffs in the distance.

 

“I’ll go drop you off,” Lance said. “And it’s just for a quick while. We can move the quintessence back into your ship at the Castle’s bay. A lot better than staying here, right?”

 

Keith paused. What Lance said was true. The quicker they left this planet, the better. And he also did miss seeing Shiro. Surely the Blade of Marmora could spare a few vargas.

 

“Okay,” he agreed. “But only for a while.”

 

Lance flashed him a dazzling smile in response, and Keith felt the tips of his ears heat up. They went back inside the Blue Lion, the cockpit full of the quintessence. Pidge crowded over them, touching the tubes. 

 

“Are you sure these aren’t going to break?” They said worriedly.

 

Lance waved them off. “Advanced alien tech, Pidge,” he said. “They can take a little pressure.”

 

Lance dropped Keith off near his fighter jet. “Here’s the coordinates of the Castle of Lions,” he said. “I’ll open up a wormhole, but in case we go too fast, you’ll still be able to find us.”

 

“All right,” Keith said.

 

Lance gave him one last smile. “See ya, Keith. Don’t take too long, all right?”

 

Keith rolled his eyes. “Maybe I’ll get there ahead of you.”

 

“Hah! In your dreams. My girl’s lightyears faster than yours.”

 

Behind Lance, Keith could hear Pidge groaning. “Oh my god,” they muttered. Keith didn’t hear the rest because Lance was still gloating about his lion.

 

“Get going already,” Keith said, shoving him lightly back to his lion. “Race you, Lance.”

 

“You don’t stand a chance!” 

 

Keith clambered back onto his fighter jet, reveling in the familiarity. His ship was generally the same design of a Galra jet, though it had been heavily modified by the Blade with upgraded stealth and speed skills. It wasn’t a Voltron Lion, but it might be able to give Lance a challenge. He turned the engine on, slowly rising up in the air.

 

The Blue Lion leapt up into the atmosphere, activating a wormhole. Keith sped up, and they both vanished into space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayyyy my wildest chapter yet ♥ ♥ ♥ finally, Keith and Lance are reunited!! and Pidge :D 
> 
> I've decided that, with all that's happening in season 4, this will probably go canon divergent after season 2. There's A Lot of stuff coming in and while I like drizzling bits of canon in my fics, it's hard to keep plot points in line with the existing happenings. There's an end in sight somewhere, quite excited to see it through.
> 
> Thank you for everyone who's still reading the fic! Updates took a while but I hope to wrap this up early next year - if work doesn't overwhelm me too much.


	8. Chapter 8

The Castle of Lions was bustling with activity when Keith arrived at the dock. A ship engineer flagged him over for identification. “We’ll load the quintessence here as per the Blue Paladin’s instructions,” they said, and waved him away.

 

Keith said his thanks, and wandered on around ship bay. He wondered where Hunk was. He half-expected the Altean to be one to greet him. There were dozens of aliens around, checking on the ships while staring at clipboards. He recognized the orange-haired man twirling his moustache nearby.

 

The man noticed him at the same time, and brightened up considerably. “Oh, it’s you young Galra!” he said, walking over to him. “Shiro’s protege. Er, Kein, was it?”

 

“It’s Keith, actually,” Keith said. “Is Shiro here?”

 

The man shook his head. “I’m afraid he and the Princess went to the Balmera to discuss plans for the war,” he said, shrugging. “Top secret, and all that. Though I’m sure the Blade keeps you updated. I’m quite impressed with your data gathering, actually! We’ve done leaps and bounds with what you’ve given us.”

 

“Thanks,” Keith said. He was glad to know that they were providing valuable service to the alliance, and that it was acknowledged. He wondered how the Princess felt about that. Surely she didn’t hate the Galra indiscriminately anymore, after all that had happened.

 

“Keith!” 

 

He turned at the sound of his name. Lance was running right up to him. He’d changed his clothes into a more casual Altean style. Pidge was behind him, but they kept getting distracted by the surrounding ships.

 

He grinned once he reached Keith. “I won,” he crowed.

 

Keith folded his arms. “By twenty ticks, Lance,” he said.

 

“I still won!”

 

“You were a Voltron lion, I was a fighter jet. I was putting up a fight,” Keith said. “If we had the same ship, I’d win.”

 

Lance waved his arms. “Whatever dude, it doesn’t count. I’m still faster than you.”

 

Keith sighed. There was just no winning with Lance.

 

“This is so amazing,” Pidge murmured as they walked close to them. “I’ve never seen so many ships! Earth would go nuts at the idea that space technology has come this far.” Their eyes were shining so bright, Keith swore he could see the stars in them.

 

“Cool, right?” Lance jerked a thumb towards the orange-haired Altean. “Coran, this is Pidge. They’re an Earthling who helped us with the quintessence. And they’re looking for Shiro!”

 

Coran nodded at them. “Hello, Pidge!” he said cheerfully. “Welcome aboard the Castle of Lions!”

 

“Coran here’s our head mechanic,” Lance said, in a faux whisper. “If you want, he can show you around while we wait for Shiro and my sis to come back.”

 

“Can he really?” Pidge’s eyes were wide.

 

“Ah, interested in what we got here, eh?” Coran chuckled. “I’ll take you on a tour. Would you like to join, Keith?”

 

“Uh,” Keith said, throwing a glance at Lance. Pidge was already bouncing on their feet, excited to get started. “I think I’ll pass for now. Thanks.”

 

“All right, suit yourself! Now, Pidge, this here is the ship bay -” The two walked off, Pidge firing questions that Coran seemed only happy to answer.

 

Lance watched them walk off with a smile on his face. “Pidge wouldn’t stop asking so many questions on the way here,” he said. “Like, how do the transmissions carry over in space? Or what does the turbo valve do? And I was just like, I don’t think we’re talking the same language anymore. So yeah, I figured Coran might be the one to help them with all that.”

 

“That’s good,” Keith said. “You’re not worried it’s a breach of security or anything?”

 

Lance laughed. “Keith, they didn’t even know aliens existed until today. I’m pretty sure Pidge isn’t a threat to us.”

 

Keith shrugged. To him, it was always better to be more careful. He wouldn’t have let some alien just join him up in space. But Lance always had a different way of seeing things.

 

“So where’s Hunk?” Keith asked next. “Is he working at the ship bay, too?”

 

Lance’s face fell, and Keith knew instantly it was the wrong question. “Did something happen?”

 

“Yeah,” Lance said softly. He forced a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Come on, he’s probably in the kitchen. Hunk would probably want to see you.”

 

Keith didn’t know what to say to that. He and Hunk had barely talked, and in the months they hadn’t seen each other it would be a miracle if he remembered Keith with all the aliens he’d met so far.

 

They crossed the hallways in silence. Every now and then someone would pass by and smile or greet Lance, who responded in kind. They would glance briefly at Keith, but none acknowledged him. That suited Keith fine. He had wanted to slip his mask back on, but he didn’t want to raise suspicion. At least his Earthling features made him less conspicuous. Galra were probably not welcome in the Castle.

 

The smell of food hit him when he rounded the hallway. Keith was surprised by how hungry he felt. The food in the Blade was bland but healthy, good for making him strong. But it hadn’t been since his dinner in Altea that he actually tasted a good meal. 

 

“Oh hey Lance, how was the mission - Keith!” Hunk said, turning as he balanced a silver tray on his hands. The delicious smell came from whatever food was on the tray. “Wow! I haven’t seen you in ages! How have you been?”

 

Hunk put down the tray on the table and enveloped Keith in a tight hug, so quick that he didn’t know how to react. He practically lifted Keith off the floor with his strength.

 

“Slow down, buddy, that guy’s been through a day,” Lance said, laughing. Hunk gently let him down, smiling. Keith stared at the scar running diagonally on Hunk’s cheek. “What happened?” he blurted out. Hunk’s lips pursed, and Keith wished he could take the words back.

 

“Well, uh, Zarkon’s a real asshole,” Hunk said conversationally, taking a seat by the counter. “Oh, have some cookies, Keith, these are fresh from the oven.” Lance had already taken two and was chewing with gusto. Keith hesitated, but when Hunk pushed the tray closer, he picked the smallest one and took a bite. He closed his eyes, shocked at the flavor.

 

“Good, right? Perfect mix of sweet and buttery,” Hunk said, grinning. Keith could only nod. He took a few bites, savoring the taste to last. “Anyway, things haven’t been going so well. Just two weeks ago we. Uh.” He gulped a bit, and looked away from Keith. Keith was surprised to see tears forming in Hunk’s eyes.

 

“We lost Gyrgan,” Lance spoke up, softly. “He’s the Yellow Paladin. My sister was captured by Zarkon. We launched a mission to retrieve her but he sacrificed himself to get her out.”

 

There was a terrible silence. Keith didn’t know what to say. He had lost many comrades over time, but Voltron paladins, who were mentally linked, probably felt the loss more deeply.

 

“We got the Red Lion back, though,” Hunk said, with forced cheerfulness. “Thanks to the Blade of Marmora. We were able to the override their system and bust it out.”

 

“I...I’m sorry,” Keith said, the words woefully inadequate. 

 

Lance gave him a watery grin. “Shiro and Allura are taking the loss hardest,” he said, his voice cracking. “I don’t know who blames themselves more. They’ve been working themselves ragged to organize the war front.”

 

Keith clenched his fists. No wonder there was radio silence from Shiro lately. He must have been in so much pain. Shiro hated losing people. He grieved each and every loss personally. Keith, who had known loss since he was born, was less affected. But it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

 

“I wish the Princess wouldn’t blame herself,” Hunk said. “It wasn’t her fault. Zarkon’s true evil. He even demanded Voltron in exchange for Gyrgan’s life.”

 

Keith glanced at Lance. The Altean prince’s shoulders were drawn tight. “We’ll destroy him,” he said, voice so sharp it could cut glass. “We’ll end his reign once and for all.”

 

Hunk patted Lance on the back. “Yeah buddy,” he said reassuringly. “We’ll kick his ass out of the Thaldycon system and bam. Bye Zarkon!”

 

“Yeah,” Lance said. “We’ll all do it together. You’ll be great, Hunk.”

 

Hunk squirmed. “Y-yeah, I guess. I mean I’ll  _ try.  _ You know I’m not really cut out to be a Paladin, we’re just really short right now and -”

 

“Hunk!” Lance stood up and shook him by the shoulders. “You’re going to kick ass with us, okay? The Yellow Lion chose you.”

 

“Well, I’d more say the Yellow Lion tolerates -” Hunk started, but Lance glared at him so hard that Hunk just scratched his head. “Okay, Lance. If you say so.” He shot a glance at Keith.

 

“You’ll be great,” Keith said. “The Yellow Lion wouldn’t have let you pilot them if they didn’t believe in you.”

 

“See? Listen to Keith. He’s the badass Marmorite here,” Lance said.

 

“He hasn’t even seen me fight, Lance,” Hunk protested.

 

Lance’s eyes lit up. “You wanna take it to the training room?”

 

“What - no, Lance!” Hunk said, almost scandalized. “We just ate!” He gestured to the cookies, which were almost gone. “Keith, you want more? You barely had some!”

 

Keith paused, unsure if he could eat another, but Lance grabbed two cookies and tossed one of them at him, and he had no choice but to catch it. “Lance!” He wasn’t letting food go to waste. 

 

“Come on,” Lance said unrepentantly. “I bet I can eat this cookie faster than you.”

 

“Is everything a competition with you?” Keith grumbled, but he raised his cookie. At Lance’s nod, they both stuffed their mouths at the same time. Keith crunched on the cookie, chewing so fast he barely tasted it. He swallowed, sticking out his empty tongue a split second before Lance.

 

“Keith wins!” Hunk announced, grinning.

 

“Ugh!” Lance said, crossing his arms. “Best out of three.” He snagged another pair of cookies and waved it at Keith.

 

That was how Coran and Pidge found them fifteen minutes later. “That’s 8-5, Keith,” Hunk announced. “And we’ve run out of cookies, Lance.” 

 

“Darn it!” Lance howled. “Rematch! Bake us more cookies, Hunk!”

 

Hunk raised an eyebrow. “You know that it takes half a varga for that, right?”

 

“What’s this about cookies I hear?” Coran said, peering in. “You didn’t leave some for us? How will I share some prime Altean grub with our newest recruit here?”

 

“Whoops, sorry Coran.” Hunk turned and spotted Pidge. “Oh wow, it’s a tiny Shiro!” he said, peering close. “Cool. Where are you from?”

 

“I’m from Earth,” Pidge said, holding out their hand. “The name’s Pidge.”

 

“Nice. I’m Hunk!” Hunk shook their hand enthusiastically. “What are you into, Pidge?”

 

Pidge fiddled with their glasses after Hunk finally let their hand go. “I’m really interested in how this ship works,” they admitted. “Coran’s been showing me around but there’s so much going on. And you even have those Voltron Lions.”

 

“Oh man,” Hunk said, grinning. “Coran, you think Pidge can take over what I do for now? I can show them the ropes. We always need an extra hand, if you want.”

 

“If I want?” Pidge’s mouth was open. “More like, this is the dream! Is it really okay if I stay here and help?” They looked back and forth to Coran and Hunk.

 

“Well, we’ll have to check with the Princess,” Coran said slowly. “Though I can’t imagine she’d have an objection to you. You’re certainly not spy material.” He smiled. “And you’re a willing study, so that’s the best part! So many people have difficulty with the complexity of Altean technology, but it’s wonderful to share, really! You agree, don’t you, Hunk?”

 

Hunk nodded vigorously. Lance laughed and slung an arm over Hunk’s shoulder. “You’re going to learn from the best,” he said to Pidge. “This dude here knows this ship inside and out.”

 

Hunk’s face turned red at Lance’s praise. “You mean Coran, Lance,” he reminded gently. 

 

Coran laughed, waving a hand politely. “I’ve taught you all I know, Hunk,” he said, with pride. “It’s always good to let you youngsters take the wheel. Succession planning’s very important, you know! We won’t be around in ten thousand years!”

 

Pidge’s eyes were shining. “I can’t wait to get started!” they said, smile bright. 

 

“We should celebrate with more cookies,” Lance said, elbowing Hunk on the stomach, grinning. 

 

“Wow, Lance,” Hunk said, shaking his head fondly. “You definitely have a one-track mind.”

 

“Dude, Pidge needs to taste those cookies! It’s going to be their first taste of space! Literally!”

 

Coran stroked his chin. “We could always give them some nutritious focusing food,” he suggested, to Lance and Hunk’s loud groans.

 

“Those are military rations,” Lance said dramatically. “No one enjoys it. Pidge doesn’t deserve to be tortured, Coran!”

 

While the Alteans bickered amongst themselves, Pidge sidled up slightly to Keith, throwing them a curious look. Keith stared back. “Yeah?” he said. There was something about the Earthling that made him feel...not relaxed, exactly, but familiar. Like Keith could lower his guard around them. Perhaps it was the shared genetic makeup. He’d felt the same familiarity with Shiro, though he had attributed to Shiro in general, who had the ability to make anyone at ease around them.

 

“So, you’re part-human,” Pidge started. “But you’ve been in space the whole time?”

 

Keith nodded.

 

“Wow,” Pidge said. “That must have been something.”

 

Keith shrugged. “I guess.”

 

“So it wasn’t weird that like, aliens raised you? No one tried to eat you or anything?”

 

“Uh,” Keith said, because his youth had been a mixture of training and combat, “no. I don’t think I’d be good for sustenance. I was raised by the Blade of Marmora to be a soldier in the war.”

 

“Wicked,” Pidge said, eyes wide. “So that’s why you could do all that crazy stuff back there.”

 

Keith shrugged again. It was certainly his most confrontational battle yet, but his odds had been stacked in his favor. He had a Voltron Lion on his side. Keith had gotten better at swallowing down his impulses; mistakes led to consequences, and often the consequence was death. He’d relearned to trust his gut when Shiro was around, but only at times when he had someone to watch his back. Otherwise he’d put both of them in danger.

 

“So what’s the Blade of Marmora?” Pidge asked. It seemed there was no end to their questions. Keith supposed he couldn’t blame them; being thrown in a middle of aliens and an ongoing space war would leave anyone overwhelmed. “Lance said they were ‘good Galra,’ but I’m confused. Galra were the ones who attacked us on Earth, right?”

 

“Yeah,” Keith said, reluctantly. He glanced at Lance, who would probably enjoy explaining things better, but he currently had Coran in a headlock while Hunk cheered him on. “We’re...a resistance, I guess. Galra who have seen that Zarkon’s reign will bring only destruction to the universe. We’re a small group, but we’ve got inside information to help the Alliance.”

 

Pidge’s mouth was a huge O. “This is the wildest thing I’ve ever heard,” they murmured. “Oh man. So there’s a space war going on. Wait - how does Shiro fit in all of this?”

 

“He’s the paladin of the Black Lion,” Keith explained. “Like how Lance is the paladin of the Blue Lion.”

 

“Shiro is piloting one of those mechanical lions?” Pidge looked shocked. “Wow! How does that happen?”

 

“The lions choose their pilots,” Keith said. “And the Black Lion - the leader of Voltron - chose Shiro.” He couldn’t resist the tone of pride at the mention of it. Shiro deserved to the Black Paladin. 

 

“Wow,” Pidge said again. “So...what’s Voltron?”

 

“Voltron,” a voice cut in, “is the strongest weapon in the universe, and the only force capable of standing up against Zarkon and his army.”

 

They all turned around. Princess Allura walked in, removing her helmet. Shiro was right beside her. “Lance sent transmissions earlier about another Earthling we’ve on board,” she said, walking straight up to Pidge with a smile. She shook their hand firmly. “I am Princess Allura, ruler of the Altean kingdom, and the head of the Voltron Alliance. I welcome you aboard the Castle of Lions.”

 

Pidge looked awed. Keith couldn’t blame them; the Princess was a sight to behold; both terrifying and majestic in the Red Paladin’s battle suit. “You must be Pidge,” she continued. “It’s good to meet you.”

 

“Uh, yeah,” Pidge said. “Your majesty.” Their eyes darted nervously around the room. “Sorry, I’ve never really talked to royalty before. Especially space royalty.”

 

Allura chuckled, amused. “You seem to be doing fine with my brother.” Lance groaned quietly, and Pidge’s eyebrows rose up.

 

“Wait - you’re a Prince?” they demanded, pointing at Lance.

 

“Sis, you have got to stop blowing my cover,” Lance complained, folding his arms.

 

“It’s better you own who you are, Lance,” Allura said airily. “Now then - you were requesting to speak with Shiro?”

 

Shiro stepped up, and held out his hand. Pidge hesitated before shaking their hand. “Takashi Shirogane,” they said, softly. “Pilot of the Kerberos mission.”

 

Shiro’s smile was soft. “Haven’t heard that in years,” he mused. “I - I don’t even know how much Earth time has passed.”

 

“It’s been a year and three months,” Pidge explained.

 

Shiro frowned. “Well, it definitely seems longer than that,” he said, rubbing his arm.

 

“They said the ship crashed due to pilot error,” Pidge continued, their mouth drawn. “But it couldn’t have been. There was no evidence of a crash; no nothing. It was just a big cover up in the Garrison. I had to know the truth. I’m - my father and my brother, they were with you,” they blurted. “Matt and Sam Holt.”

 

Shiro froze. His eyes went wide, the way they used to in the first few months when they were training in the Blade of Marmora. Ulaz had put it down as trauma; claiming he had suppressed memories of being part of the Galra gladiator ring. Shiro often crumpled down, breathing heavily, all motor functions stopped, like a robot that had been halted midway. Those moments always terrified Keith, because he’d never seen anyone react like that.

 

Humans had different coping methods, Ulaz had theorized. Galra recovered from defeat because they had no other option. There was also the fact that the Druids had experimented on him. It was a wonder Shiro recovered, though he spoke very little of his time in Galra captivity, and even less of any ties to people on Earth. 

 

“I,” Shiro stammered, and he moved to lean against the wall. Keith was already by his side without even knowing his feet had led him there. “I’m sorry,” he said, so soft only Keith must have heard it. “I don’t -” he took a deep breath, steeling himself, and stood up shakily, leaning on Keith. “Pidge, right?”

 

Pidge looked like they were bracing for the worst. “Yes,” they said quietly. “If there’s anything you know about my family, please.”

 

“I...I haven’t thought about them in so long,” Shiro admitted, his voice cracking. “Those were painful memories. The Galra took us after we landed in Kerberos, and they separated us. Matt and I were together in the gladiator ring, but your father - it’s likely they sent him to one of the prison camps, but I can’t be sure. And your brother - I think he was injured -” Shiro clutched the side of his head.

 

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have - I didn’t look for them.” There was shame in his expression. “They were my crew. It was wrong to abandon them.”

 

Pidge’s mouth was twisted in pain. Keith wanted them to leave, wanted them to stop causing Shiro this hurt. It wasn’t Shiro’s fault, he wanted to say. But that wouldn’t stop Shiro from blaming himself. 

 

To Keith’s surprise, it was Allura who went to Shiro and touched him on the shoulder. “Admitting you made a mistake makes you a stronger leader, Shiro,” she said. Her expression was kinder than Keith had ever seen it. “The Galra have destroyed countless lives. You were fortunate to escape their clutches.”

 

Shiro straightened up. “I’ve dedicated my life trying to help destroy the Empire,” he said. “It was the only way to repay the Blade of Marmora for rescuing me.” He nodded at Keith, and then turned to Pidge. “Pidge, I know it’s late, but I’ll find them for you. I’ll do whatever it takes. I can’t let the Galra take anymore of my crew.” There was a silence that Keith just knew was for the fallen Yellow Paladin.

 

“So, search and rescue, huh?” Lance spoke up, grinning. He threw an arm around Pidge’s shoulder. “That’s exactly my cup of tea.”

 

Allura frowned. “You just came back from a mission, Lance.”

 

“Which was a complete success, thank you,” Lance drawled. “I kicked Galra butt and retrieved all the quintessence. Went without a hitch.”

 

“Thanks to Keith, too,” Pidge reminded Lance.

 

“Well, Keith’s a given,” Lance said, tossing him a smirk. Keith just rolled his eyes. “Between him and me, we could find your family in no time flat.”

 

“You should stay here for now and help train Hunk,” Allura said. “You are now the legs of Voltron. Hunk has a lot of catching up to do.” 

 

“I’m really not cut out for this piloting schtick,” Hunk murmured, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

 

“Whoa whoa, a naysayer? Hunk, you’re gonna kick ass there! We’re gonna take Zarkon down!” Lance protested.

 

Coran checked his transmission device. “Looks like Trigel’s done with her mission in Olkari,” he said cheerily. “She’s on her way back here.”

 

“Good,” Allura said. She turned to Shiro. “Shiro, I know you want to help Pidge, but we can’t spare you at the moment. Every day Zarkon becomes more aggressive. Without the black paladin, we can’t form Voltron.”

 

“I know,” Shiro said. “But I can’t let this wait any longer, Princess. The Galra have prison camps scattered all over the galaxy. Who knows where we can find the Holts?”

 

“I’ll take care of it,” Keith spoke up. Everyone in the room turned to look at him. “The Princess is right, Shiro - you can’t let this distract you,” he said, uncomfortable with the attention. “I’ll discuss this with Blade of Marmora. We have some data on Galra prisoners; I can probably cross-reference and check. I’ll send word to Kolivan about this.”

 

Shiro stared at him in length, and then broke into a smile. “Thank you, Keith,” he said, and he patted him gratefully in the back.

 

“I’ll go send a message right now,” Keith said, ducking out. He didn’t think he could take Pidge’s hopeful gaze or Lance’s soft expression or Allura’s surprise. 

 

The Blade of Marmora was prompt in their reply. They could identify if there were any other humans in the prison camps, and would send coordinates to Keith upon his return to the base. He let out a soft sigh, glad it wasn’t an issue. The Blade was notoriously tight-lipped with their data. But this was all in the name of the war effort, even if it was a minor personal issue. Keith wasn’t sympathetic to Pidge, but he knew what it was to miss someone. It was better to know if they were still alive or not.

 

Shiro found him later at the ship bay as they loaded the quintessence from the Blue Lion to his fighter jet.

 

“Going back already?” he said. Keith nodded. As much as he had enjoyed his short time in the Castle of Lions, he couldn’t stay any longer. Especially if he had this new mission to start on.

 

Shiro touched him on the shoulder. “You’re really growing up, aren’t you?”

 

Keith brushed off his hand. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he grumbled.

 

Shiro just shook his head, faint traces of a smile on his face. “Look at you, making your own decisions, taking initiative. Being there for the people who need you. You’ll be a great leader one day, Keith.”

 

Keith’s face heated. “I don’t aim to be a leader,” he said.

 

“That’s exactly the kind of attitude a leader needs,” Shiro opined. “You don’t know it yet, Keith, but you’ll be amazing one day.” He hugged him gently, his arms a soft weight around Keith’s shoulders. “I look forward to that.”

 

Keith slowly returned the hug. There were so many goodbyes between him and Shiro in just the past few weeks, and yet it never got easier. 

 

“I’m sorry I’ve been busy lately,” Shiro added as they pulled away. “It’s been - eventful,” he huffed, his shoulders drawn. “This war is not getting any easier, Keith. Zarkon’s Robeasts are a real pain. With a new Yellow Paladin we’re not at par to our usual strength. And he knows that. Divide and conquer is a strategy he’s used multiple times, according to Allura.”

 

“So he’s aiming for Voltron,” Keith said.

 

Shiro nodded grimly. “I don’t think he recognizes me as a threat,” he said. “Regardless if I’m the Black Paladin or not. He went after Allura - a smart move, because if she’s gone I don’t think any of us would know what to do.” He breathed heavily through his nose. “Lance was - he would have thrown himself in danger for her than let her get hurt. And all of the Paladins here feel it too. Without Allura, this Alliance would crumble.”

 

He looked so lost. Keith had never seen Shiro so shaken. “She’s fine now, Shiro,” he said.

 

“Yes, but until when? I’m not - this isn’t enough. I can’t protect her, Keith,” Shiro said, with a slow exhale. “I’m sorry I’m telling you all this, but -” his voice cracked. “I’m not perfect. Pidge being here reminded me of that. I’ve made so many mistakes, and it already cost us one Paladin. Who’s to say I won’t make another?” Shiro turned his head away from Keith. “Who’s to say I’m good enough to lead Voltron?”

 

Keith remembered what Lance had said about Shiro deepening his bond with his lion. Perhaps recent events had really shaken him to the core. Keith gripped him by the shoulder. “Shiro,” Keith said. “I don’t care how many mistakes you make. I’ll still have your back. And maybe this is a far stretch, but I think everyone in this ship has yours too.” He looked straight into Shiro’s eyes. “The Black Lion chose you. He needed someone who would be strong enough to take on Zarkon. And I know it’s you. You’ve gotten up every single time you’ve been knocked down. That’s what makes you a true leader.”

 

Shiro choked through a laugh. “Thank you, Keith,” he said softly. “Without you, I wouldn’t be here.”

 

_ Neither would I,  _ Keith thought. The countless times Shiro had saved him, physically and emotionally, were moments Keith could never forget. “No matter what happens, Shiro, I’ll always be here for you,” he promised.

 

Shiro nodded. “So will I. You’ll send word once you hear about the Holts, won’t you?”

 

“The very instant,” Keith said. “I won’t stop until we find them.”

 

“All right,” Shiro said. “I trust you with this, Keith.” He leaned in for another hug, which Keith didn’t object to. 

 

He wouldn’t have thought Shiro had such insecurities. He’d always imagined Shiro as a rock, strong and unwavering. But the presence of Pidge had really upset him, coupled with their recent loss. Keith resolved to take away one less problem from Shiro. If he found the other Earthlings, Shiro could focus on leading Voltron better.

 

As he pulled away from the hug, he saw Lance by the entrance of the ship bay. The Altean was leaning on the doorframe, hands in his pockets. His expression was too far away for Keith to make out, but he seemed distinctly unsettled. Keith tilted his head at him.

 

Shiro turned at Keith’s expression, and also caught sight of Lance. “Lance,” he said softly. Lance approached both of them, one hand migrating to the back of his head.

 

“Sorry to interrupt the tearful goodbye,” he said sheepishly. “But they said you got the ship loaded and ready to go so - yeah. Guess you’re off to kick more Galra butt, huh, Keith?”

 

“Yeah,” Keith said. There was a strange swooping sensation in his stomach, not unlike the turbulence on a shaky ride whenever he was evading Galra jets. It was worrying, because he wasn’t feeling this agitation until Lance came close. What was it about the Altean Prince that made him react like this? Was he developing an allergy to Alteans?

 

“Cool,” Lance said. “Don’t do too many dangerous things, okay? I want you back in one piece.”

 

“I mean,” he added, as Keith just stood there, ignoring the further dive in his internal organs, “I still have to beat you in that cookie eating contest. I can’t let you be better than me in one thing.”

 

Keith shook his head. “I won that fair and square,” he argued. “And if we had the same ship, I’d win in a race, any time.”

 

Lance grinned. “Fighting words, Galra boy.”

 

“You know it,” Keith insisted, folding his arms with a glare.

 

Shiro shook his head good-naturedly before Lance could make any further rebuttals. “You two make quite the pair,” he said. “Thanks for helping Keith recover the quintessence, Lance. I’m glad you volunteered for that. We’ve got our hands full at the moment.”

 

Lance brightened. “No problem, Shiro,” he said, smiling at him. “I was curious about Earth, anyway. Though that area seemed to be just full of sand. I thought you said Earth had big areas of water?”

 

Shiro laughed. “Once this is all over, I’ll take you to the ocean,” he said. “You’ll love it. We don’t have mermaids, but we do have dolphins, and all other sea creatures. And you can come along too, Keith,” he added, turning to him. “I’ll tour you around the planet. It’s where you’re from, after all.”

 

Keith’s breath was caught. Shiro had never talked about plans for the future before. Like him, he’d only been thinking about surviving until the next day. Maybe being part of Voltron had changed all that.

 

“I’d like that,” he said, quietly, amid Lance’s cheering. 

 

Shiro smiled at Keith. “I’ll go return to the deck,” he said. “I need a word with Pidge as well. She’s probably a bit overwhelmed with what’s happening.”

 

“I think Hunk and Coran are doing a good job on that already,” Lance said. 

 

Shiro shrugged as he walked on. “I think a fellow Earthling can help put things in a better perspective,” he said. “Take care, Keith! I’ll hear from you soon,” he added with a shout before disappearing into the hallway, leaving Keith alone with Lance.

 

The turbulence was back, and stronger than ever. Keith nervously folded his arms, worried he was coming down with another Earthling sickness that the Blade of Marmora had no cure for. 

 

“So,” Lance said, drawing the word out so long it seemed to have three syllables, “heading out already, huh? Without so much as a goodbye?”

 

Keith blinked. “What?”

 

“Last time, you just took off too,” Lance said. Keith struggled to remember the last time. “One moment you were just checking on your ship, the next Hunk was telling me you already blasted off. Very rude, if you ask me.”

 

Keith frowned. “You know they have docking schedules in the Castle, Lance.”

 

“Not the point,” Lance said. “I mean, ok, Shiro’s like, your brother-in-arms, but I’m your friend, right? You could at least try and say when you’re about to go.” There was a slight tremor in his voice that made Keith’s chest feel tight.

 

“Sorry,” he muttered. “We don’t do goodbyes before missions in the Blade of Marmora.”

 

“Crappy practice, if you ask me,” Lance said. He was standing a good two feet away from Keith, his mouth slanted downwards. 

 

Keith stared at him. “I don’t -” he started slowly. “What do you  _ want,  _ Lance?” it sounded ugly, even to his ears, and he winced.

 

Lance bit his lip. “A heads up would be nice,” he said roughly. “I get I’m not - your number one person or anything - but I’m trying to be your friend, Keith. You - you didn’t even tell me that was you, earlier.”

 

Keith could feel the heat climbing up his neck. “I tried to,” he mumbled. “I thought you didn’t remember me, so I-”

 

Lance laughed out loud. “How in the world am I not supposed to remember you?” he asked, as if the mere idea was ludicrous.

 

The words were all stuck in Keith’s throat. What was he doing? He didn’t know how to act around Lance, and everything he did just seemed to make things worse. “I don’t - I’ve never had a friend before,” he finally admitted. If he had Galra ears they’d probably be folded over, the way Antok’s did whenever Kolivan was disappointed with him. “Sorry - I just. I don’t know what you want from me, Lance. I really don’t.”

 

“You’re nice to me,” Keith added, as Lance stared at him. “It’s not what I usually get.”

 

There was a pause as Lance’s expression slid from confusion to realization to something Keith didn’t recognize. “Every time I try to get angry at you, you pull out something like this,” Lance muttered.

 

Panic welled up in Keith’s insides. “You’re angry at me,” he said, the words acid on his tongue.

 

Lance let out a breath. “A little, yeah,” he admitted. “But you’re - well - different,” he said sheepishly. “This is why I was never good at diplomacy class - Coran always said I didn’t pick up on subtle cues. Like, darn. How am I supposed to remember you’re some super soldier from a secret resistance who never learned basic social skills? I can’t blame you for not even bothering to let me know you’re leaving.” 

 

Keith didn’t get half of what Lance was saying. “I don’t want you to be angry at me,” he said instead, because that was all he could focus on. He didn’t know how to make this right. 

 

Lance shook his head. “I’m not anymore,”he said. “Sorry. That was crappy of me.”

 

“Lance.” Keith clenched his fists. “I’m really sorry.”

 

Lance huffed. “It’s fine. And I’m really not mad at you anymore. It’s not your fault, I guess.” He gave Keith a smile, but it wasn’t as bright as the one before they had left Earth. “Anyway, just, be careful out there, okay? Shiro said you were impulsive, but I never thought you were  _ that  _ impulsive. Someone ought to be there to watch your back.”

 

Keith shrugged. “Shiro used to.”

 

“Yeah, Shiro,” Lance said, his tone quiet. “But he’s not there with you, so.”

 

Was Lance worried about him? “I’ll be fine, Lance,” Keith said. “I don’t do that sort of stuff all the time, you know.”

 

“You could have fooled me,” Lance said. Then he pulled Keith into a hug.

 

It was very different from a hug from Shiro. For one, Keith could feel every part of his body that was brushed up against Lance; hyperaware that his left hip was bumped closer than his right one; that Lance’s breath was warm against his neck, that his hand was hovering above Lance’s shoulder as if terrified of being rejected upon landing. 

 

Lance was also thinner, distinctly of less weight; Keith felt like he holding something fragile, and he was terrified of how real Lance felt all over him.

 

Lastly; Keith didn’t want to be the first to let go. Most hugs for him were awkward and uncomfortable, and this was no exception. He always stepped back first, unsure about the physical contact. Shiro’s hugs were warming up to him lately, and he’d learned to relax into them. But this didn’t feel like something to sink into; it felt like a competition, as was everything was with Lance, and somehow Keith didn’t want to lose.

 

Eventually Lance pulled back, slowly, and Keith almost whined at the loss of contact. He struggled to hide his disappointment as Lance pushed his hands into his pockets. 

 

“Right,” he said, after a moment. “So that’s a proper goodbye, okay, Keith? I expect hugs from now on.”

 

“Okay,” Keith agreed, dazed. Lance could have asked him to give up his blade and Keith would have given it to him at that moment. Keith was feeling particularly lightheaded. He really needed to check if he was coming down with something.

 

“Okay,” Lance repeated. “I’ll see you around. Oh and - Pidge wanted you to have this.” He pulled out a piece of paper. Keith peered at it; it was similar to a holograph, except it wasn’t moving. There were four Earthlings in it; clustered together while smiling. They all looked alike.

 

“That’s their brother and father,” Lance said, tapping on it. “So you can recognize them. I told them we had DNA samples of Earthlings, so it’s easy to match, but Pidge wanted you to have it anyway - so you could show it to them when you find them. Also, they’re expecting that back, so don’t lose it.”

 

Lance grinned. “That Pidge is really something, huh? They just don’t give up. They wanted to go with you, to help find their family, but I told them you probably wouldn’t take them with you.”

 

“No,” Keith agreed. “I won’t.”

 

“Yeah, you seem to have that ‘I work alone’ vibe,” Lance mused.

 

“I don’t always work alone,” Keith pointed out. “We were good together today.”

 

Lance paused. “Yeah?” he said, quirking his lip. “We do make a good team.”

 

Keith nodded. He opened his mouth to say more, but one of the ship engineers came over to them.

 

“You’re in line for deployment in thirty ticks,” she said to Keith. “Are you ready?”

 

“He’s good to go,” Lance replied for him. “Take care, Keith.” He bumped him gently on the shoulder with his fist. Keith got on his jet, firing his engines, and he watched Lance from his ship’s window until he was indistinguishable before he was propelled back into space and out among the stars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *strums a guitar to the tune of mutually oblivious pining*
> 
> anyway happy holidays to all! to celebrate please have an update :D i was so excited to be able to insert the past Paladins into the story, and to have a chance to explore how the war really affects everyone, especially Shiro, who's leading Voltron with heavier expectations than most. (also mmm catch me some shance there) and a lot of canon moments remixed! hope you caught most of them!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i knooow it only seems i kick my ass in gear every time there's a new season date airing (march 2 yeeeee) but seriously guys I've put together a lot of stuff! It's crazy that there's so much information to go along now that I still want to incorporate in the story. Also, slightly plot-heavy, especially for Keith and his feeeeelings :D

When Keith got back to the base, preliminary data about the Holts was already waiting for him. 

 

“We’ve identified the location of Sam Holt,” Ulaz said, spreading out the reports on the table. “He’s in a prison camp in Senfama, a far off planet in the system of Xeinthe. It’s nowhere near a war front, so we haven’t gotten to liberating it. The good news is that’s probably just a harvesting planet for quintessence, which is why the Galra won’t have it as a top priority. From what we gather, it’s only guarded by one warship.” 

 

“Matt Holt, on the other hand,” Ulaz continued. “The last he’s been seen is in the neighboring planet of Kythra.”

 

Keith perked up. He’d been one of the Blades deployed there the last time. “I remember that place,” he said. “They were already in the midst of the uprising when we got there.” Pressed on both sides, the Galra had been forced to withdraw.  It had been a thrilling victory, regardless of how little appreciation they had gotten.

 

Ulaz nodded. “Yes. That may explain why we haven’t gotten more information on him. He could already be part of the rebel faction.”

 

“Kythra isn’t part of the Voltron Alliance, though,” Kolivan chimed in. “They’re independent.”

 

“They’re focused on their own cluster,” Ulaz confirmed. “Admittedly they are not space travelers. I understand why they wouldn’t want to be involved on a larger scheme. Currently their efforts are spent on defending the planet from any further invasion.” 

 

Kolivan nodded. “I’ll see if we can make contact,” he said, grudgingly. “The Kythrans are not the most welcoming of species, but surely they can spare an audience for someone who speaks for the alliance.” He turned to Keith. “We’ll refuel your ship and then you can head for Senfama at our advice. Prioritize extraction, but you may also spread the virus to the warship if you can. Don’t engage. It’s too distant for you to have backup if things go wrong.”

 

“Yes sir.” He was dismissed after, and Keith headed for the training room, adrenaline thrumming inside his veins despite the events in the past few vargas. He’d always take steam out by training; the monotony calmed him. 

 

Inside the room, several Blades were already engaged in combat, while some others stood in the sidelines, waiting for their turn. One of the latter, Regris, raised his tail in an invitation, and Keith was only happy to comply. Once one of the pairs moved out of the center, he and Keith took their place, getting into formation. They engaged jabs and kicks, each move barely giving an inch. Even though it was training, they were taught to fight as if their life depended on it. Nothing was friendly. Nothing was safe. It was how Keith preferred it. He’d always fought tooth and nail for everything he’d had - it was how he’d been taught to operate since he was a child.

 

He’d always had to prove his worth to people: to the Blade of Marmora, that he was strong enough to fight, to Shiro, that he was worthy of an equal, to Princess Allura of Altea, that he was trustworthy and honorable. All his life he’d fought to be recognized. And he was starting to realize he wanted the same thing from Lance - which didn’t make sense, since Lance had already given him the benefit of the doubt without batting an eyelash. He’d seen Keith in battle, he’d acknowledged his worth, and he’d asked to be Keith’s friend.  

 

So why, then, did Keith feel it was not enough? He unconsciously craved a specific kind of approval from Lance, one that Keith could not yet fully identify. 

 

He slammed his fist harder than he intended at his opponent’s ribs, sending him sprawling. Regris raised a clawed fist; an open surrender. Knowing when to give up was another thing he’d been taught; one that he had come to learn with sustained injuries. Keith had never known when to give up. But it was a lesson well earned. Keith stepped up to him, helping Regris up. 

 

“Thanks,” he said, nodding at him. Regris nodded back, flicking his tail. They stepped out of the training blocks, and another pair took their place. Keith headed to the corner to rehydrate, gulping down liquids to revive his parched throat.

 

He’d asked Lance what he wanted, but he hadn’t considered of the reversal: what  _ he  _ wanted from Lance. And Keith was upset to realize that he didn’t know what the answer was. 

 

A hand landed on his shoulder, jolting Keith out of his thoughts. “You should be resting,” Antok told him disapprovingly. “You have a mission again soon.”

 

Keith finished his drink. “I’m fine,” he said.

 

Antok didn’t look convinced. “You know what happens when you push yourself too hard,” he said. “I’m calling Ulaz if you keep being hard-headed.”

 

Keith rolled his eyes at the thinly veiled threat, but stood up to go. “I’ll get some sleep,” he said. He headed back to his quarters, but he was too wired to actually rest. All he could think of was the line of Lance’s jaw as he told Keith he was angry at him. The mix of confusion and anxiety turned his insides to mush. He said he wasn’t angry anymore, but he hadn’t seemed happy with Keith even as they parted. Keith wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. He wanted to ask Shiro, but it seemed like a silly thing to ask via a communicator.  _ Is Lance still angry with me? How can I make him not angry?  _ Even the words sounded laughable in his head. 

 

He wished he knew why he was so affected. Then he could find a way to fix this.

 

Too soon there was a soft buzz on his wrist, and Keith was en route to his ship without any ideas on how to solve his problem with Lance. The coordinates to Senfama were programmed on his ship, as well as Sam Holt’s last known whereabouts. Keith hoped things would be simple this time. He didn’t want another close encounter with the Galra again so soon.

 

Thankfully the mission went without a hitch. Sam Holt was in the common prison cells; there was no reason for him to be highly guarded. The Earthling was physically weak when Keith found him. Keith practically had to carry him out back to his ship. He was able to cause enough of a distraction by freeing all other prisoners in the same cell block. Prior to going in for extraction, he planted the virus in the docked warship, disabling it. Hopefully with the warship unable to call for backup, the prisoners would be able to retake their freedom without too much bloodshed. There wasn’t more Keith could do for them.

 

The Earthling coughed as he struggled to sit up in Keith’s jet. “Who are you?” he asked, voice faint. Keith took out the frozen holograph Lance had given him. Sam Holt’s eyes went wide. “Where did you get this?”

 

Keith shook his head. “I was sent to find you,” he said. “You’ll be fine.” 

 

He sent word to the communicator, as he promised Shiro, and set out for the nearest Blade of Marmora outpost. There he would wait until he picked up the signal of the Castle of Lion’s latest hailing frequency. Kolivan, while sympathetic to Shiro’s personal mission, was not interested in letting aliens enter their headquarters. Keith felt the same.  

 

It wasn’t long before his communicator sounded.  _ We’re on our way.  _

 

The Black Lion soon arrived, and out tumbled Pidge, a blur that ran straight for the Earthling. “Dad!” they yelled, crushing them into a hug. “You’re alive!”

 

Sam Holt held onto Pidge like a man on a clinging on an edge of a cliff. “Katie,” he whispered. “You’re here. How are you here?”

 

“I came to find you,” Pidge said, their voice cracking. “They said you were dead, but I couldn’t believe that. There was no way you were gone. I was never going to accept that.” They broke into sobs, their face buried in their father’s neck.

 

Keith hung back, wondering if he should turn away. The outpost was only one room, and there was nowhere else he could go, but this seemed like a private moment. Shiro had disembarked from his Lion and was standing on the doorframe, his own eyes filled with tears.

 

“Are you okay?” Keith asked, sidling up to him.

 

Shiro nodded. “I’m so glad he’s alive,” he murmured. “I - thank you, Keith.” He gripped him by the shoulder, and Keith was surprised that Shiro’s hands were shaking. 

 

“Anything for you, Shiro,” Keith said. Shiro gave him a soft smile.

 

The Earthlings were still pressed close to each other, unwilling to let go. Pidge eventually turned their head, motioning to Shiro. Sam Holt looked up, eyes wide. “Shiro,” he croaked out. “You’re alive. I thought - they brought you to those horrible gladiator rings - ” he trailed off, seeing Shiro’s arm.

 

Shiro knelt beside them. “I’m all right, sir,” he said softly. “The Blade of Marmora rescued me, and now I’m a pilot of Voltron. There’s an intergalactic alliance formed to take down the Galra.” he gripped Sam’s hand tight. “I’m sorry it took so long to save you. I’ve failed to protect you,” he said, turning his eyes away. “I’ve failed our whole crew.”

 

Sam shook his head. “You’ve done more than enough,” he said. “You’ve given me back to my precious Katie.” He turned to Pidge, who was sniffing uncontrollably, arms still slung over his neck. 

 

“Katie,” Shiro said, quietly. “I’m really sorry about this. Don’t worry. We’ll find your brother soon, too.”

 

Pidge nodded. “It’s okay. I trust you, Shiro. And Keith,” they added, between gulps. “Thanks for saving my dad.”

 

Keith shrugged, uncomfortable with the gratitude. “Yeah. We’ve identified possible locations of Matt Holt, but nothing’s definite. I’ll move in once we have confirmation.”

 

Shiro nodded. He slung an arm under Sam’s waist, and together he and Pidge helped him stand. “We’ll take him back to the Castle of Lions,” he said. “The Altean medics will patch him right up.”

 

They slowly walked back to the Black Lion. Pidge threw one last look at him as they passed by. “Hey Keith?” they said softly. Keith tilted his head. “I’m really glad you’re not a bad guy,” they said, with a grin, before they ambled on.

 

Keith blinked in confusion. What was that supposed to mean? But Pidge didn’t explain more, and soon the Black Lion was a tiny speck in the distance. Keith waited until the signal was gone before getting back on his ship and returning to the base.

 

Finding Matt Holt, however, proved to be trickier. The Kythran rebels had confirmed him to be one of the liberated in the attack last year, but they had no records of their members. Matt could have joined their rebellion or flown for another neighboring planet. It was for their own protection, the rebel leader Ozar claimed. If they were like the Galra, who kept microchips on their own everywhere, a simple hack could destroy everything.

 

“I suppose he’s right,” Kolivan said begrudgingly. “That’s how our virus has been so effective in taking down the Galra Empire.”

 

Ulaz scrunched his nose. “It’s rather primitive, though,” he said. “How in the world will they communicate with everyone in their rebellion?”

 

“That’s why they can only protect their own planet,” Antok said in disgust. “They’re nowhere near good enough to help defend the universe.”

 

Keith drummed his fingers. “So what do we do?” he said. 

 

“Well, there’s the option to physically go in and look for him in Kythra,” Ulaz said reluctantly. “Though that’s time-consuming. You’d think they’d notice there was an Earthling there!”

 

“It’s become rather diverse since the prison camps, though,” Antok said. “More than half of the native population has been displaced, and Kythra’s always been a trading town. An alien wouldn’t stand out.”

 

Kolivan straightened up. “We don’t have time for this,” he said. “There’s been less reports of Robeasts being created, which is good, but Zarkon’s up to something new. From what Shiro has reported, he’s been tracking them down somehow. The Castle of Lions has barely been able to work on the offense due to Zarkon personally attacking them with his main fleet. Forming Voltron has been difficult with a fledgling Yellow Paladin. This is setting our plans back.”

 

“Only the Druids are privy to Zarkon’s latest ideas,” Ulaz said darkly. “He’s been more withdrawn since they’ve figured out there’s a spy. Thace has been questioned, but he has passed it. However, there’s always a chance of discovery. The longer we wait, the more we stand at risk.”

 

Keith sucked in a breath. None of this sounded good.

 

“If we’re not careful, Zarkon may be able to destroy Voltron,” Kolivan said. “We must insist on moving forward. The Princess knows what’s at stake.” He glanced at Antok. “We should head to the Castle of Lions for a meeting.”

 

Antok nodded. “I’ll send the message.”

 

The two of them walked of the briefing room, leaving Keith with Ulaz.

 

“So what about Matt Holt?” Keith said hesitantly.

 

Ulaz shrugged. “He seems unimportant in the scheme of things, doesn’t he?” Ulaz said. “Perhaps we’ll be more at ease to find him after defeating Zarkon.”

 

“Yeah, but,” Keith hesitated. “I think it’s affecting Shiro,” he said. “He feels responsible for them.”

 

Ulaz sighed deeply and turned to look at Keith. “Shiro may have those feelings,” he agreed, “but he cannot allow those to rule him. He is the leader of Voltron. People throughout the universe look up to him. He must be stronger than that. Princess Allura of Altea has lost her father and more than half of her people already. But she still fights for who she can save. Shiro should feel fortunate he’s already reunited with half of his Earthling crew.”

 

Keith was silent.

 

Then, “You knew about the other Earthlings, didn’t you?”

 

“I’ve heard of them,” Ulaz admitted. “But neither piqued my interests like Shiro. He was the Champion, after all - an outstanding being. The other Earthlings didn’t display his strength or fortitude, which are the only traits that matter to Galra.”

 

“You must understand, Keith,” he said, at length. “We are fighting a war. Losses are unavoidable.”

 

“I know that,” Keith said, bristling. “Do you think I don’t notice how little we are left? How we’ve stopped removing our masks, so we can be faceless to each other?” He only had their voices to discern each member from another, and at some point Keith had stopped trying. Maybe it was for the best. Death was part of the Blade of Marmora’s creed from the beginning.

 

This time Ulaz was the silent one. “Once you join the Blade, you give yourself up for dead,” he said, quietly. “Thace and I knew that, once we signed ourselves for this struggle.”

 

“But Keith - this is the life you’ve been forced to live. We took you away from a future where you could be safe, so you could fight for a future for the universe.”

 

Keith swallowed the lump in his throat. “I don’t regret being here.” 

 

Ulaz shook his head. “But how would you know? You have never known otherwise.” He sighed. “You are full of kindness, Keith, even though we have raised you with what we know. Perhaps empathy is truly an instinctive trait to you Earthlings.”

 

“You care,” Keith said, upset. The Blade was the only family he’d ever known. “When you thought I died -  you were all scared for me.”

 

“Of course we care for you!” Ulaz said, standing up to reach for his hand. He squeezed it tightly. “You are important to us, not only as a brother, but as a son. To us you are precious, and to lose you would be a terrible thing.” 

 

“I’m glad,” he said, almost to himself. “You’ve given life to our cause, and the sight of you allows us Galra to hope. That one day our kind may be accepted again throughout the universe.”

 

He slowly released Keith’s hand. “However, we cannot find it in our hearts to care for random Earthlings. But you, somehow, can.”

 

“It matters to Shiro,” Keith said, softly. “So it matters to  _ me. _ ”

 

Ulaz nodded. “Your attachment to Shiro is another thing,” he said. “To us he is simply another brother of the Blade of Marmora; exalted when victorious, mourned if lost. But you have fostered something extraordinary between the two of you.”

 

“Isn’t there anyone you care for like this?” Keith asked. Did Galra feel things differently? He’d always felt less emotional than Shiro, but more emotional than the other members of the Blade. He was caught in some ugly in-between, and often he couldn’t make sense of what he wanted. Briefly his thoughts turned to Lance, but he banished those away. The Altean Prince was a complication on its own that Keith refused to think about at the moment. Lance made him feel things that were entirely alien to him. Keith didn’t have time to consider them.

 

The silence was longer than the last. “There is one,” Ulaz eventually replied, his hand covering his face despite the mask. “But Keith - attachments are a dangerous thing. The less you have, the better.” He turned to leave. “I’ll discuss with Kolivan if we will push through with search for Matt Holt,” he added. “But I prefer we expend our energies on more important things.”

 

He left the room. Keith slumped down on a chair. His feelings were warring at each other. He understood Ulaz’s practicality, but at the same time he remembered Shiro’s tears, and the way Pidge had sobbed while they hugged their father. The hopeful gaze at the thought of seeing their brother again. Keith desperately wanted not to disappoint them.

 

A part of him didn’t want to give up on Matt Holt either. Keith never could abandon missions with a clear conscience. He always wanted to see things through. “You can always retreat and learn to live another day,” Shiro had told him once. But Keith never could back down.

 

After the Blade of Marmora reconvened, Keith was brought along to the meeting in the Castle of Lions several quintents after. He stood nervously, aware of how he and Shiro were sitting on opposite sides. They were meeting as allies, but it was clear they didn’t see things eye-to-eye.

 

“I understand what you’re saying,” Shiro said, rubbing his temples. “But Kolivan - we are not ready to form Voltron for this.” Allura, beside him, nodded in agreement.

 

The three other Paladins stood behind them, all in attention. Lance’s gaze was focused on him. Keith squared his shoulders and looked forward, wishing that he could don his mask. But they maintained the courtesy of identification to honor the Alliance.

 

“Shiro, we have prepared everything for this,” Kolivan said. “It’s been nine months since our first contact with Altea, if you remember, Your Majesty.”

 

“I recall perfectly,” Princess Allura said, her tone cold. 

 

“Then you must also remember our goals,” Kolivan said, his tone just as sharp. “We have sacrificed so many of our brothers for this. We know you have losses of your own,” he said, with a glance at the assembled Paladins. Keith didn’t imagine Hunk’s intake of breath. “But we must all survive. You have lost Paladins before. Forming Voltron remains the priority.”

 

Princess Allura’s face was of total fury. “I will not be ordered around by Galra,” she enunciated carefully, her fist clenched. “We have done all you asked.”

 

“Then you know that our plans are effective,” Kolivan pointed out. “You have led a successful offense from one planet to another with our intel. But this is not enough. The Galra Empire is spreading continuously as we speak. Do you want this war to last ten thousand years? Zarkon has done enough damage in three decades!”

 

“We are all aware of what Zarkon has done, Kolivan,” Shiro cut in, before the Princess could reply. “Personally aware.” His tone was a warning. Kolivan shifted his gaze to Shiro, his eyes narrowed. Keith felt the gap slowly growing between them. Shiro was more a paladin of Voltron now than a brother of the Blade of Marmora.

 

Before Kolivan could answer, alarms began to ring throughout the castle.

 

“What’s going on?” Keith asked, turning his head at the bright red lights.

 

“Zarkon,” Princess Allura murmured. “He found us - again.” There was a twinge of fear in her voice. Then, “Everyone! To their Lions!” She nodded at the Paladins, and they all raced to go. Around them, the bridge was full with activity; the Castle’s crew headed to their seats, taking charge of the controls.

 

“We’ll stay here in the Castle,” Kolivan told them, his mouth a grim line. “We can’t risk detection by leaving.” 

 

“Are we going to join the fight?” Keith asked. 

 

Kolivan turned to gaze at the glass window, where they could all see the assembled forces of the Galra Empire. “Let us see the might of Voltron,” he said, a taste of acid in his own tone, “against the might of Zarkon.”

 

They were obviously vastly outnumbered. The Alliance had a number of fighter ships, as well as the Castle of Lions, but Zarkon’s main fleet had numerous warships at its disposal. The Voltron Lions evened the field, but it wasn’t going to cut it.

 

Keith frowned. Why weren’t they forming Voltron? He glanced around the deck; Coran was at the center, shouting instructions. He spied familiar brown hair at the helm console, and Keith moved closer to them. 

 

“Pidge,” he said in an undertone. The Earthling, engrossed at looking at their screen, nearly jumped at the sound of his voice.

 

“Shit, Keith,” they said, pressing hard to their glasses. “You scared me.”

 

Keith frowned. “What’s wrong with the Lions? They should form Voltron now,” he said.

 

Pidge winced. “According to Lance, they haven’t formed Voltron against Zarkon since the last time they squared off - meaning that time they lost the Yellow Paladin,” they explained. “I don’t know if Zarkon did something - I don’t really get it, actually, but he was able to force the Lions to separate, and then he almost stole the Black Lion.”

 

That didn’t sound good. And Shiro hadn’t mentioned anything like that to him. Keith’s mouth was dry. They were depending on Voltron to take out Zarkon. If it couldn’t stand up to him, what could?

 

“They’ve been forming Voltron for Robeasts, though,” Pidge added. “Hunk’s getting good at it. You know, these Alteans are something else. I don’t know how Shiro can keep up with them. Hunk practically snapped him in half the last time they sparred. You wouldn’t think he could!”

 

“They value strength as a culture,” Keith said. “Though they’re predominantly peaceful.” He looked at Pidge’s screen. “They - they’re just cutting out a path,” he said, once he realized what fight tactics the Lions had adopted.

 

Pidge nodded. “Yeah, then we’re going to wormhole out of here. We’ve been doing that the past few days, actually. Though that Zarkon guy keeps finding us no matter what. Shiro says it’s been going on since they lost Gyrgan. They haven’t figured it out yet, so it’s been making things difficult. Can you believe they’re dealing with that on top of training Hunk? Everyone here is frazzled 24/7. I’m surprised Shiro and the Princess can keep themselves together.”

 

Keith watched the Black Lion flitting in the screen. “That’s what Shiro does best,” he said quietly. He noted the Galra warships. “They’re going after the Black Lion,” he realized, with some surprise.

 

“Yeah,” Pidge grunted. “It kind of works toward our favor - he funnels all his forces towards Black, so he gets distracted enough so we can get away. But that can only work so many times. Oh - whoops, looks like it’s game time, Keith.” They grinned, pressing some buttons on the helm. Keith felt the Castle gain speed. He looked out the glass. The path was finally clear.

 

“Paladins! Return to the Castle!” Allura’s voice rang throughout the whole room. “All other ships have successfully retreated. We will activate a wormhole in thirty ticks!”

 

Several Alteans stood up, clustering at the center of the bridge. Energy crackled in the air. Keith glanced at Pidge.

 

“It’s some sort of Altean magic,” Pidge said. “I don’t get it much; not all Alteans have the power to activate a wormhole. Coran, for example, can’t. From what Lance told me, it the ability mostly runs through royal blood.” 

 

Keith snuck a look at the gathered Alteans. “So they’re what, all Lance’s relatives?”

 

“Distantly, I guess,” Pidge shrugged. “The only remaining from the main branch is Princess Allura and Lance.” 

 

Keith turned to the screen. All the Lions had been able to retreat except the Black Lion, who was still being attacked on all sides. 

 

“Shiro - ” he began, but Allura burst running into the bridge, heading straight for the center. Blue light activated all around her. “Shiro, hang on!” she cried, and the Castle of Lions steered straight for the Black Lion, attacking the warships directly. “Activate shield!” 

 

“Wormhole in ten ticks, Princess,” one of the Alteans announced. The countdown began. Keith watched in bated breath as they navigate directly above the Black Lion, who shakes off the Galra ships following them, breaking for the ship bay. Pidge switched their screen; the Black Lion managed to get in, just as the count hit two. 

 

“We’re good!” Coran declared. The energy intensified, making the hairs on the back of Keith’s neck prickle. The wormhole materialized in front of them, and the Castle of Lions jumped in.

 

There were sighs of relief; several crew members slumped on their seats, visibly tired from the encounter. The Princess herself was taking off her helmet, her eyes closed. 

 

Kolivan walked up to her. “You have done well to retreat and fight another day. An excellent strategy, Your Majesty.”

 

Princess Allura turned to him, looking suspicious of his praise. But she took his outstretched arm and gripped it, in respect to the Blade’s greeting. “Thank you, Kolivan,” she said. “You see for yourself what we deal with. Zarkon is relentless.”

 

Kolivan nodded. Antok and Ulaz had joined behind him. Reluctantly, Keith left Pidge to stand amongst the rest of the Blade of Marmora. “We now understand your difficulties more intimately. Given this, shall we resume our meeting, or continue this at a later time?” he added graciously.

 

The Princess paused. “We may reconvene in two hours’ time,” she said. “Allow us to recover for the time being. You are welcome to stay in the Castle of Lions in the meantime.”

 

Kolivan bowed. He nodded to Antok, and they both stalked out of the bridge. Ulaz gravitated towards Coran, clearly with some questions. Keith was about to join him when Pidge grabbed him by the arm.

 

“I’m going to check up on Hunk and Lance,” they said. “Wanna come with?”

 

Keith threw a questioning glance at Ulaz, but his fellow Blade wasn’t even paying attention to him. He was already in deep explanation over his latest findings on the quintessence. Coran seemed similarly immersed. Deciding that he was unneeded for this particular conversation, he allowed Pidge to drag him off.

 

There was a separate hangar for the Voltron Lions. Keith marveled at height of the ceiling; the sheer massiveness of the area was unprecedented to him, who had lived in the close confines of the Blade of Marmora’s headquarters all his life. The Castle of Lions was at least ten times the size of a Galra warship, the layout of which Keith had already memorized. But the Castle had a distinct feeling to it; as if it were alive. Keith wouldn’t put it past Altean engineers to create something like it. After all, they had been the ones to come up with Voltron. Zarkon had his Druids create Robeasts, but those were mere imitations of Voltron’s powers.

 

“Hunk!” Pidge was yelling, and Keith glimpsed three Paladins coming across the room. Hunk and Lance perked up at the sight of Pidge. The Green Paladin, a tall alien with dark brown fur and protruding horns at the side of her head, nodded curtly at them, patting Hunk on the back before walking past the hangar and into the hallway.

 

“Pidge! Did you see what I did?” Hunk’s eyes were shining as he grabbed onto Pidge. 

 

“I did! You were great out there!” Pidge squealed as Hunk lifted them off the floor into a bone-crushing hug.

 

“See, I told you, Hunk,” Lance said, grinning. “You’re going to be kickass!”

 

“I still hate going up against Zarkon, though,” Hunk said, shivering. He let Pidge down gently. “Man, the guy does not quit. We’ve been, what, running from him for three quintents straight? When is he going to give us a break?”

 

“Zarkon won’t stop until we stop him ourselves,” an exhausted voice cut in. Shiro walked up to them, removing his helmet. He was visibly tired, though he still held his shoulders straight. He smiled at the paladins. “Good job out there, guys.”

 

Lance smiled softly back at him. “You did good too, Shiro. You didn’t even let those Galra overwhelm you!”

 

Shiro shrugged. “Losing is not an option.” His gaze turned to Keith. “Hey, buddy.”

 

“Hey,” Keith said, reaching for him. Shiro gripped his hand tight, but left it at that instead of enveloping him in a hug.

 

“I need to talk to the Princess,” he said. “Are you guys - ?”

 

“We’ll reconvene the meeting in two hours,” Keith said, repeating Princess Allura’s instructions. “Shiro - I’m sorry about putting pressure on you.”

 

Shiro pushed back his bangs, breathing out. “It’s not your fault, Keith. I get what Kolivan means. If we lose our chance now we may never have it again. Everything’s very delicate. But Zarkon -” he tensed his grip on his helmet. “I don’t know how he keeps finding us.”

 

“I’ve got some theories,” Pidge said. “What if when he captured the Red Lion last time, he put some kind of tracking device?”

 

Shiro frowned. “Shouldn’t we be able to detect that?”

 

Pidge shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t been able to check on Red, anyway, and Black. So far Yellow, Blue and Green don’t have anything different about them. But from what you guys told me - he only started being able to find you after he was able to trap Allura. So that’s the only definite fact we have.”

 

“I can bring it up with the Princess,” Shiro said doubtfully. “But I don’t know, Katie.” He sighed. 

 

Pidge folded their arms, and Shiro laughed softly. “Sorry, Pidge. I keep forgetting about your preferred name.”

 

“You and Dad are the only ones who call me Katie,” Pidge said, frowning.

 

“When we get Matt back, he’ll call you that too,” Shiro said, smiling. He glanced at Keith. “Speaking of which?”

 

Keith tried not to wince. Pidge’s eyes had turned on him, all wide and hopeful. He didn’t want to disappoint them. “We might know where he is, but we may have to go planetside to find him,” he explained. “The Blade of Marmora doesn’t feel it’s a priority at the moment, with the final plans coming up so soon.”

 

“After we take down Zarkon, though, we’ll work on it,” Keith added. “We’ll do our best to find him.” He tried to sound reassuring, but at Pidge’s crestfallen expression, he obviously hadn’t been believable.

 

Fortunately, Lance put an arm around Pidge. “Hey, hey,” he said softly. “I’m sure your brother’s okay. Your dad’s all safe and good now, right?”

 

Hunk nodded vigorously. “Yeah, he wouldn’t stop asking me stuff the other day,” he said. “He’s just as bad as you, Pidge. I saw him tinkering with the main engine turbine with Coran earlier. If you guys keep it up, you’ll be better than the rest of our engineers.”

 

Pidge grinned, delighted by the praise. “It’s pretty simple, really!” they said. “I mean, the technology is much more advanced, but the basics are laid out similar to Earthling logic. So it’s easy enough to apply.”

 

Hunk tapped his chin. “Now I’m curious about your Earth tech,” he said. “You have to bring me over there one of these days. You told me you have some inventions of your own, right?”

 

“Oh yeah! But the ones you’ve made are way more cool.”

 

“Well, my automatic cake maker is a hit at all the parties,” Hunk said, thumping his chest. 

 

Pidge fiddled with their glasses. “I was really talking more about your interferometer machine,” they said, rolling their eyes.

 

“Oh, yeah. That too. But my cake maker is my pride and joy, Pidge! That’s what’s going to make me famous in Altea! Cakes in five minutes or less! That’s what the public needs!”

 

“Yeah, but seriously, if we keep focus on identifying the light waves of natural wormholes, we could pioneer a new point of space travel!”

 

“Sometimes,” Shiro said, as Hunk and Pidge continued their conversation, “I think Pidge adjusted way faster to space than I did.” He shook his head fondly.

 

Keith rolled his eyes. “Shiro, you weren’t exactly fazed by the alien technology either,” he reminded him. Shiro had picked up weapon mastery in terrifying speeds. 

 

“I spent a good chunk being locked in alien combat, fighting for my life,” Shiro said wryly. “Admittedly, the Galra never gave us proper weapons of combat, but when it’s do or die, you have to do.” 

 

“I think Shiro is just naturally talented at everything,” Lance chirped, squeezing in between the two of them. “You’ve picked up piloting Black like you’ve been trained for it all your life. I know so many Alteans - and other aliens, for that matter - who would die for that honor.” 

 

Shiro shrugged, a light flush crossing his features. “I do what I can, Lance.”

 

“You always do,” Lance said, his eyes bright. Keith turned his head away, feeling lightheaded. He couldn’t fault Lance for admiring Shiro; he himself thought the world of him. Shiro was the kind of person he wished he could be. All the paladins looked up to Shiro, the way most of the Blade had also commended his strength.

 

But the way Lance smiled at Shiro made his stomach turn in nervous flips. It was so unnerving that when the room started to flash red, Keith thought he’d only imagined it.

 

“What?” Hunk shouted over the noise. “W-what’s this?”

 

“Oh no,” Shiro said, his eyes wide.

 

Footsteps pounded in the hallway. The Green Paladin was already running back into the hangar. “Zarkon,” she gasped. “He’s found us - again.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! The end nears the horizon, and I'm quite excited for it! Hopefully everyone is enjoying the journey together with Keith and Lance.
> 
> I also want to share a ficlet from Lance's POV, set between chapter eight and nine, [here](https://cheselle.tumblr.com/post/170626278042/so-ive-been-churning-out-the-klance-soap-opera). Feelings are a tricky thing, especially when you have two dense teenage aliens stumbling around an intergalactic war :D :D :D

\--

 

“How did he find us?” Lance demanded. “We’d just wormholed out - he couldn’t have -” He gulped, looking at his fellow paladins. They all wore the same expression of shock and terror.

 

“Back to your lions,” Shiro ordered, putting his helmet back on. “Princess - we’re all here,” he said. “We’ll mobilize right away, and meet you in the battle front.” He turned to Pidge and Keith. “You two should return to the main deck,” he said. “They’ll need you there.”

 

Keith grabbed Shiro’s shoulder before he could walk back to his Lion. “Stay safe, all right?” he said. There was something worrying about the way Shiro had to take on so many Galra fighters by himself. He had no idea why Zarkon had it out personally for the Black Lion, but Keith had a bad feeling about it.

 

Shiro nodded. “I will.” He turned back to the rest of the paladins. “Let’s go, everyone.”

 

Keith managed a nod to Lance and Hunk before they headed for their lions. He watched them board, before turning back to match Pidge’s pace as they raced through the hallways. They came across the Princess, who didn’t even spare them a glance as she passed them by. She had the same look of determination Shiro was wearing earlier. Keith knew no matter how tired they were, the Voltron paladins weren’t the type to give up.

 

They reached the bridge, where everyone had already returned to their seats. Keith followed Pidge to their own console, watching them bring up the screen. “Oh crap,” they said.

 

Zarkon had not just brought his own fleet. He’d also brought a new Robeast with him.

 

“We must form Voltron,” Princess Allura’s voice crackled throughout the room. Her voice was firm.

 

“The Castle will provide reinforcements!” Coran said. “Don’t worry, Princess. We’ll cover for you! All fighter jets, formation Sarphim!”

 

A stream of fighter ships dove towards the Galra fleet, with the Castle of Lions bringing up the rear. They stood between the fleet and the Robeast. The Robeast was poised to attack the Castle, but Voltron was already formed.

 

“Form sword!” Shiro ordered. Voltron complied; a huge sword materialized by the red lion’s arm, and they thrust it at the creature.

 

But it obviously wasn’t as easy as the last battle Keith had witnessed. This Robeast was different from the last Keith had seen; the sword barely made a dent at its’ armor. Then a strange light began to emanate from the Robeast’s chest; drawing Voltron in with some kind of magnetic field.

 

“Move back!” But Voltron was stuck, unable to pull away. Keith watched in horror as Galra fighter jets began to surround the giant robot, shooting constantly. The main fleet loomed ominously, moving closer.

 

“We have to get free!” Allura’s voice was strained. “Coran!”

 

“On it, Princess!” The Castle fired, cutting off the Robeast’s tractor beam. Freed, Voltron jumped away, though the fighter jets were in hot pursuit.

 

Then the Robeast did something strange. It opened up, emanating the strange light again, and began to absorb fighter jets.

 

“What is it doing?” Hunk yelled incredulously. “Is it attacking its own teammates?”

 

Keith didn’t understand either. Why would a Robeast do that? The answer for it was confirmed when barely ticks later, the Robeast launched a strong laser attack directly at Voltron. The screams of the paladins rocked the whole castle.

 

“It’s absorbing the Galra jets’ firepower!” Pidge yelled. “And - oh no...it looks like that’s the plan!” Behind them, Galra warships were firing their cannons at the Robeast. “That much firepower - Voltron won’t be able to handle it!”

 

Voltron slowly righted itself, and then sliced at one Galra warship. “We can’t take another hit!” Shiro declared.

 

Voltron moved to avoid the Robeast’s line of fire, but it turned to another target - the Castle of Lions.

 

“Get the particle barrier up!” Coran ordered, and not a tick too soon. The whole bridge began to tremble from the brunt of it; even Keith dropped down to the floor, his head throbbing with pain. This was the attack Voltron took earlier.

 

He could hear Lance’s voice echoing in the Castle. He latched on it, an anchor to keep himself grounded. “We have to stop that tractor beam!”

 

The painful shockwaves began to ebb. Keith staggered to stand, clinging to Pidge’s console. Beside him, they looked just as shaken. “Look,” they whispered. Keith glanced down at the screen. Voltron had put their shield on the Robeast’s chest, effectively blocking its attack.

 

It was now their turn for offense. They slammed the Robeast right into a warship’s path, before pulling the shield back.  “Fire lasers!” There was a string of explosions, and the bridge held their breath.

 

But even before the debris could clear; a laser light shot straight at Voltron, sending it flying off. Then, as it lay immobile, it activated its tractor beam again.

 

“Full thrusters!” Shiro was yelling. “We have to escape!”

 

“Fighter jets, to Voltron!” Coran ordered, and the Alliance ships swarmed to help, blocking the path to the robot. But they were only sucked into the Robeast’s energy field.

 

“This is bad,” Pidge said, biting their lip.

 

Keith glanced up, eyes searching until he found the Blade. Kolivan was standing near the command center, arms folded. His expression was near identical to Pidge’s.

 

The main Galra warship rammed against the Castle, raining laser fire. “Activate shield!” Coran yelled. “Redirect defenses to the bow!”

 

But the warship seemed to have other plans. They slammed past the Castle, moving ahead until they sandwiched Voltron between them and the Robeast. Then a circle of energy formed around it, directly aimed at Voltron. With the Robeast blocking the path, the giant robot couldn’t escape.

 

“He’s trying to separate them again!” Pidge exclaimed. Keith watched in horror as Voltron struggled, rendered immobile. He could feel Shiro’s pain washing all over the ship. The rest of the Paladins seemed to be experiencing the same thing.

 

“Stay strong!” Shiro yelled. “Don’t-” his voice muffled, turning to static as the lions were forcibly separated.

 

“Shiro!” Keith couldn’t resist his own shout of fear.

 

“Allura! Lance!” Coran said frantically. “Paladins! Can you hear us?” There was no response from any of the paladins.

 

“Fire at that warship!” Coran ordered next, his tone decidedly different. “Fire at it with all we’ve got, everyone!”

 

The main bridge raced to obey. The Castle began to rain lasers at the warship, but soon the other fleets were also ganging up on them.

 

“There’s too many!” Someone shouted. “We’re outnumbered!”

 

Keith noticed movement. He looked up to see Ulaz arguing with Kolivan, and then the other Galra walking out of the room. His heart did a curious thing by beating twice as fast. Keith was halfway up the steps before he knew it.

 

“Where’s Ulaz going?” he demanded.

 

Kolivan’s expression was grim. “Ignoring orders,” he said angrily. “He’s always insisting on his impulses, that fool.”

 

His tone needed no further explanation. Keith turned to follow Ulaz, but Antok blocked his path.

 

“What are you doing?” Keith asked furiously.

 

Antok stared at him, his face impassive. “We don’t need two on a suicide mission, Keith.”

 

The words were like a punch on his stomach. Keith literally staggered backwards. “Wh-” He stared at the hallway in horror. “No,” he whispered.

 

Pushing Antok’s arm away, Keith’s brain switched to autopilot. His feet dragged him somewhere, heedless of Kolivan’s shouts.

 

It only felt real when he reached the ship hangar and saw Ulaz climbing up his fighter jet.

 

“Ulaz!” He yelled, skidding to a stop against the jet. He was tempted to climb up it too, but then Ulaz opened the entrance hatch. Hesitantly, Keith pulled himself up, hovering by the ship’s wall.

 

Ulaz was already strapped to the pilot’s chair. “Keith,” he began evenly.

 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Keith thundered, his voice cracking. “If you go out there right now - Voltron is barely hanging on! What can you do?”

 

Ulaz looked at him, his eyes full of emotion. Keith struggled to keep breathing. His hands were shaking. “We can always do something, Keith,” he said softly. “And hopefully, it is the right thing.”

 

“No,” Keith said helplessly. “No, please, there has to be another way-”

 

“There is no time,” Ulaz said gently. “If we wait any longer, Zarkon may get his hands on the Black Lion, and everything we have fought for will be for naught.

 

“The Blade errs in the side of caution, but if we lose Voltron now, there will be worse consequences than being discovered.” Ulaz shook his head. “I am not afraid to die for this cause. It is for the future of universe - and ultimately, the future of Galra - that we do all this.”

 

Keith’s lips were trembling. “Ulaz, please-”

 

“Keith,” Ulaz said, raising a hand. “It is my dearest wish that you survive this war; that you see Galra once more on the side of Altea as a recognized ally.”

 

“I am glad to have known you,” Ulaz added. “You are a brave warrior, a true brother of a Blade of Marmora.” His voice was also trembling. “Farewell, Keith.” He held out his hand, and Keith pulled it close to his chest, one last time. He could not argue with Ulaz’s logic, and it would only be cruel to stop him. Keith stepped out of the ship and jumped down to the hangar.

 

Ulaz fired the engine. Keith watched until it was out of the sight before running back to the main deck.

 

Things hadn’t improved. The Lions had mobilized again, but between the Robeast and the main warship, they were unable to form Voltron. The Castle of Lions was trying to break the flank, but the other warships were keeping them occupied. Warning sirens rang throughout the Castle as they took more battle damage.

 

Pidge glanced up at Keith. “What’s happening?”

 

Keith could only shake his head. He watched with trepidation, knowing that Ulaz was on his way, even though he would not be able to tell. Ulaz would have cloaked his ship until the last moment.

 

A pinging noise ran through the consoles. Coran glanced at Kolivan. “There’s a communications signal for the Lions and the Castle,” he said.

 

“Accept it,” Kolivan said. His voice betrayed no emotion.

 

Ulaz’s voice crackled through the lines. “Hang on, Paladins!”

 

“Ulaz?” From Shiro’s tone, he clearly hadn’t expected it.

 

“But what can you possibly hope to do?” Allura cried out.

 

“I’m going to take it down from the inside,” Ulaz said simply.

 

Shiro must have realized what he was planning, because panic laced his next words. “Ulaz, no!”

 

“It’s all right, Shiro,” Ulaz replied. His voice didn’t tremble the least. “Voltron is too valuable; it is our only hope against Zarkon. We have put our faith in you and the paladins.”

 

“But - ”

 

“You must fall back now,” Ulaz said, his tone firm.

 

There was a moment of hesitation. Then the Black Lion turned around, racing back to the castle. “Everyone, return to base!” Shiro ordered. The four other lions followed, Galra jets chasing after them. Keith watched with a lump in his throat as Ulaz’s ship materialized in front of the Robeast.

 

He barely heard Ulaz’s final whisper. “The universe needs you.” Then he dove in straight into the Robeast’s beam, activated the gravity generator that each of their ships were equipped with. For a second it looked like nothing had happened, but then the Robeast began to fold in on itself.

 

Keith looked away from the screen. His hands wouldn’t stop shaking. There was a loud explosion, but he didn’t care to see the destruction.

 

“The Lions are all here!” Allura’s voice, winded as it was, still rang clear through the comms. “Coran, activate wormhole! Now!”

 

Coran didn’t need telling; already the wormhole sigil hovered above them, the Castle moving at top speed. Keith spared one last glance at the Galra warfleet, hot on their heels, before they disappeared from view.

 

There wasn’t even a remnant of Ulaz’s ship to be recovered. He supposed that was one good thing. But he couldn’t partake in the same sigh of relief as the rest of the crew. Already Coran had sprinted away from the center, possibly to meet the paladins. Keith just stood where he was.

 

He was startled by a tight grip on his shoulder.

 

“Keith,” Kolivan whispered. Antok’s arm pressed against his shoulder. “Come.”

 

All three of them slipped away to hallway. Keith found the wall and slumped back against it, breathing heavily. He wanted to collapse but somehow his body still found the strength to stay steady. He looked up the ceiling, blinking at the impossibly bright lights.

 

Antok gripped his arm; reminiscent of earlier as he tried to stop Keith from running to Ulaz. Kolivan took his other hand, pressing his warm hand against his. Keith let the feel of the fur sooth him. He closed his eyes.

 

It wasn’t the first time Keith had ever had to mourn someone - he’d seen many deaths of his comrades, some right before his eyes. But this one _hurt._ There was an angry scratching clawing up his throat, but Keith didn’t let a single sound escape his lips.

 

He wondered if this would be the last.

 

\--

 

When the Paladins returned to the deck, Shiro was not with them. Keith didn’t ask for him. Some Alteans had found the Blade of Marmora and offered them sustenance and temporary lodging for the meantime.

 

They had achieved a full wormhole jump, they reassured. Zarkon would not be able to trace them for at least a full quintent. It was a small comfort to Keith. If Zarkon caught up to them again, Ulaz’s sacrifice would be in vain.

 

Keith sipped on the drink the Altean had provided them. He had seen Pidge staring at them nervously, Sam Holt standing behind them. The sight of the Earthlings made Keith turn away. He could not bear to see them at the moment.

 

The Princess walked up to them. Her face was drawn from exhaustion, but she still rallied herself fully, a true portrait of strength. Keith didn’t envy her. He barely looked up as she stood in front of them.

 

“Thank you for your assistance earlier,” Princess Allura said quietly.

 

Kolivan’s head made the barest of movements. “That move was entirely Ulaz’s,” he said. “Regardless, we echo his sentiments. Voltron is the only force in the universe that can stand up to Zarkon. Do not let his sacrifice be in vain.”

 

“We won’t,” the Princess assured him. “Countless allies of ours have paved this path to ensure Voltron not fall into the wrong hands, ever again. We honor you among them, Kolivan, and the entire Blade of Marmora.”

 

Kolivan was unmoved by her words. “Zarkon will not stop until he has the whole universe until his control.”

 

The Princess nodded. “I know too well.” Her hands were clenched into fists. “Your loss is our own.”

 

Kolivan’s eyes flicked to the Paladins. Keith could see Hunk hunched beside Lance. The Altean Prince had blood trickling down from a cut on his forehead, but his gaze mirrored the steel in Princess Allura’s. The Green Paladin stepped forward.

 

“We have lost three Paladins to Zarkon already,” she said. She sounded infinitely sad. “I cannot claim to know your grief, but I can understand. He takes by force, and by any means necessary.”

 

Kolivan nodded. “He knows that Paladins are not so easily replaceable. If he cannot take the lions, he will destroy their pilots and render them unusable.”

 

“Perhaps he hopes to kill us all,” the Green Paladin said, softly. “The Paladin to have the honor of killing all his previous comrades-in-arms.” Her voice was quiet. “After all, I’m the only left for him to take.”

 

“Do not speak like that, Trigel,” Allura cried, taking her hands in her own. “I won’t let him destroy you too. He has done enough in his attempt to tear apart Voltron.”

 

Together they crowded around her, their bond manifesting physically. Keith wondered how painful it was to lose one of their own - it was akin to losing a limb. He glanced at Hunk, who hovered nervously on the edges. What was it like, to be grafted on to the bond? He wondered how Shiro fared. Was it painful to become a leader of a group that had lost their previous head?

 

“We cannot risk losing another Paladin or Lion,” Kolivan said. “That is his objective now. You cannot let him take anything vital from Voltron.”

 

The Paladins nodded. There was nothing left to say after that. The Blade of Marmora agreed to stay for several vargas before taking leave of the Castle of Lions, to minimize risk of detection. It was good too - Keith felt too shaken to pilot back to the headquarters, and returning there required full focus. If he wasn’t careful, he could pilot them straight to the black hole.

 

Kolivan and Antok went to the room assigned to them. Keith followed, staying in the bunk for a time, but found himself unable to sleep. He left the room quietly as not to disturb his fellow Blade, and began to roam around the halls restlessly.

 

The Castle of Lions was immense, entirely too easy to get lost in. Keith changed directions every time he heard someone approaching, going higher and higher up the steps. Luckily the upper areas seemed less populated, and soon Keith slowed his pace, no longer sensing any activity.

 

He had already walked past several hallways, likely lost but not really caring, when Keith sensed another individual’s presence as he rounded an intersection.

 

Footsteps slowed from his right. “Hey.” Keith stiffened. He wanted to be left alone. He didn’t have the patience to deal with anyone at the moment. He whirled around to say so, and came face-to-face with Lance.

 

The blood on his forehead had dried, leaving a crusty mark. He was no longer in armor, but rather a blue nightdress. It was strange to see those bright blue eyes look so dull.

 

Keith found he had no words to say.

 

Lance seemed to sense his mood. “There’s a sky deck, on the highest floor,” he said, quietly. “It’s where I go when I want to be alone. Want me to show it to you?”

 

Keith nodded.

 

Silently he followed Lance through another set of hallways. They reached an elevator, and together they stepped inside. Lance pressed the button for the top floor. The ride was quiet the entire time.

 

They stepped out of the elevator and Keith was graced with the sight of space spread out all over him. The whole ceiling was made of glass, allowing Keith to see all the constellations he often noted when he was piloting his ship. It was dizzying in its entirety. Never had Keith felt he was a mere speck in the universe until then.

 

He heard Lance step away, and he turned to see him walking back to the elevator.

 

“Where are you going?” he asked, surprised at the words coming from his own mouth.

 

Lance avoided his gaze. “I figured you wanted some time by yourself,” he said. “I can go.”

 

“Don’t.” Lance looked up at his words, eyes wide. “Stay, please,” Keith added, strangely aware of how the sound of his heartbeat echoed through the room.

 

Lance hesitated, and then walked back to his side. Together they crossed the whole expanse to reach the the end of the skydeck, just before the railings. Lance took a seat easily, leaning against one steel rail. Keith mimicked his posture, leaving several inches between their knees.

 

Keith glanced up at the ceiling again, the awe filling him in slow increments, until it was all that was left in his being. No grief, no anger, no bitterness. He breathed out, closing his eyes, imagining himself as the countless dust in space. He mattered so little, in the grand scheme of things. He was not a Paladin of Voltron; nearly irreplaceable and each one unique.

 

But he fought for what he believed in. And he clung to the ones who made him feel like he had a place in the universe. That was enough for Keith.

 

It felt like decapheebs until he heard Lance speak again.

 

“When I’m here, I feel safe,” Lance was saying softly. “Because here, I can see home.” He pointed up at the sky, and Keith followed his wrist, glancing up to his finger. There, a bright planet shone, distinctly greener than the rest in its cluster. “See? That’s Altea.”

 

“It’s always crappy when we’re in a different system and I can’t find it,” Lance added. “I get so scared, you know? What if the Galra take over while we’re not there? What if I come home and find nothing and no one?” He lowered his arm. “Sometimes, I get so scared I can’t breathe.”

 

“But then again, I’d rather be up here with my sister than down there,” he said, almost to himself. “Maybe it’s safer - but I can’t lose her too. Father and Mother are gone. Allura is all I have.” There was a sound that was almost like a sob. Keith looked away, afraid of the raw emotion in Lance’s expression.

 

“I mean, I got Hunk and Coran,” Lance said, hiccuping between words. “And everyone in the ship is like a family to me. There’s Shiro and Trigel too...and Gyrgan, before…” Lance took several deep breaths. “I’m just so scared, you know, Keith? Every day, I could lose someone again. Or worse, everyone.”

 

Keith recalled his own pain. The Blade of Marmora grieved quietly, acknowledging their fallen brethren but moving on as quickly. It did no good to dwell on the ones they had lost, in the knowledge that there would be more deaths to come. It was an inevitability in the path they had chosen. Ulaz had known that.

 

“I’m so tired,” Lance whispered. “I’m so tired of losing to Zarkon.” Keith was surprised that the bitterness that tinged his sister’s voice was not so prominent in Lance’s own. He cast back to the conversation earlier.

 

“Zarkon was once a Paladin of Voltron?” Keith asked, slowly.

 

Lance winced, rubbing his neck. “Yeah. It’s a sore spot for my sister - and for all Alteans, naturally. The Galra were once our most trusted allies. Now…” his voice trailed off.

 

Keith paused, thinking of the all the Paladins he’d met. Slowly he began to connect the dots. “Zarkon was the pilot of the Black Lion?” he asked, in dawning horror. Lance looked up into his eyes and gave him a tiny nod. Keith struggled to comprehend this. Once upon a time, Zarkon was the head of Voltron - the leader of the strongest weapon in the universe. He had stood by King Alfor’s side and was a symbol of peace.

 

Yet he had betrayed them all. For what? Power? That seemed so simple. Surely these people - he had lived with them, loved them as comrades. They had a _bond._ It would be tantamount to Shiro breaking Keith’s trust. No wonder Altea had suffered such a loss against him. It would be so hard to defend against someone you once knew as not just an ally, but a friend. Keith ached at how complex this war had become for him.

 

Keith shook his head. “And Shiro knows about this?”

 

“Yeah,” Lance admitted. “It was kind of a difficult secret to keep, what with the bayard of the Black Paladin gone and all. We didn’t want to taint him with the history of it, really, but - well. When Shiro came on board, half of the existing Paladins had been led by Zarkon. And when Allura got kidnapped, we pretty much had no choice but to share everything.”

 

Keith was quiet. He hadn’t seen Shiro since the second wormhole. He hoped Shiro didn’t blame himself for what had happened. “Is that why Shiro’s having difficulty bonding with his lion?”

 

“I think that’s part of it, yeah,” Lance said, releasing a puff of air. He drew his knees close to his chest. “But Zarkon is also doing his best to reclaim the Black Lion. You’ve seen how single-minded he is about it. So in a sense I guess Black is torn between two masters.”

 

Keith nodded.

 

“So you knew Zarkon,” Keith asked next, unable to resist his curiosity now that it was laid in front of him.

 

Lance laughed wryly. “Yeah, he’s. Intense.” He stared at the hallway, unseeing. “He was always with Father, you know. So serious and strong, at the same time. I liked him,” Lance said, breaking off abruptly. “I - we trusted him, you know? I didn’t think he’d betray us, just like that.”

 

Keith didn’t know what to say.

 

“It’s why sis has such a hard time trusting you Marmorites, you know?” Lance laughed, the sound ringing awkward. “The betrayal is so fresh. We’ve lost so much. We keep losing, for quiznak’s sake.” He clenched his fist. “And it’s not just us.”

 

“I’m sorry about Ulaz,” Lance added, softly. Keith’s heart clenched painfully at the reminder. “He must have been important to you.”

 

“He is,” Keith said, now the one to struggle with his words. “The Blade - they’re my family. But Ulaz especially - he was the one who suggested they take me from Earth and raise me. He insisted on saving Shiro. He’s always -” he broke off, shocked by the wetness sliding down his cheek. “He’s always done what he thought was best,” he continued roughly, his voice barely a whisper. “And he always knew the stakes. But for him, the end always justified the means.” He struggled with the lump on his throat.

 

Lance wrapped an arm around him, pulling him close. Keith focused instead on the warmth running parallel to their arms rather than the tears that couldn’t stop falling from his eyes.

 

They stayed there huddled in the skydeck, Keith listening to the Lance’s soft breathing into his ear. He closed his eyes, wishing he could stay in this moment forever.


	11. Chapter 11

They assembled early by the control deck after an Altean bell rang precisely ten times. Shiro was already present, immediately straightening up at seeing them. He stepped forward, reaching for Kolivan’s arm. They shook in accordance to the Blade of Marmora.

 

“Thank you for believing in us,” he said. 

 

“I’d say we don’t have a choice,” Kolivan said dryly, “but I  _ do  _ trust in you, Shiro. I hope this is well-founded.”

 

“We won’t fail you,” Shiro reassured him. There was a different glint in his eyes now, Keith noted. Shiro often spoke with conviction, but now there was a sliver of rooted self-confidence. He wondered if Shiro had found a way to connect with his lion. 

 

Kolivan seemed to have noticed the same. “You believe you can stand up to Zarkon now?” he asked.

 

“I do,” Shiro said, nodding. “I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough before, Kolivan. If I was, I could have prevented what happened to Ulaz.”

 

Kolivan shook his head. “What’s done is done,” he said. “The Blade of Marmora was formed to take down the Empire. For this, we all act accordingly. Ulaz did the right thing.”

 

Shiro squared his shoulders. “Well from now on, I don’t want anymore sacrifices,” he said. He turned to the Paladins, who were standing behind him. “Team - listen up. Zarkon may think he has the upper hand, but we’re going to take him down. He won’t find us now.”

 

The Green Paladin stepped up. “You are sure of this, Shiro?” she asked doubtfully. “Otherwise, we should move now - it may not be long before he detects us again.”

 

“Trust me, Trigel,” Shiro said, shifting to look at her. “I’ve been wondering about my place in the team since we lost Gyrgan. I thought I was unfit to lead Voltron, and it’s taken a toll on all of us. For that, I’m sorry.”

 

“Shiro,” Allura began, but Shiro raised his hand.

 

“It’s alright, Princess,” he said. “Doubt should pave the way to growth. I may not have been strong enough before, but I know I can do it now - but only with your help. We’re in this together. Voltron is stronger when we’re united in one goal. We will defeat Zarkon. I believe that wholeheartedly.”

 

The Princess broke into a smile. “You are truly the one who deserves to be the Black Paladin,” she said. She reached out to join him, and the Paladins clustered together around Shiro. When they broke apart, Princess Allura turned to the Blade of Marmora.

 

“There is no time to waste,” she said. “Let’s speed up the plans. Zarkon may yet figure out another way to ambush us. Let’s bring the fight to him this time.”

 

There was a raised cry through the bridge. Keith felt hope surge in him once more. 

 

The plans were presented again. The only main missing element was recovering a genius engineer in one of the Galra’s top detention centers to put all the materials together. Keith barely listened - he’d gone over the plans dozens of times; it had been subjected to multiple revisions due to timelines and constraints. It had always maintained a simple concept - defeating Zarkon meant isolating his main warship and taking that down. Without the head, the Galra would be aimless. His empire had only existed for several decades, and the Blade of Marmora had been disrupting the smaller colonies. Voltron’s reemergence had helped speed up the process - as well as gain new allies to join their fight. While most could not join in space combat, many offered technological and medical advancements in their arsenal. They had roughly liberated forty percent of the Galra Empire. Once Zarkon was gone, they could move on to working on the remaining sixty percent.

 

“They will still have strongholds,” Kolivan was saying. “That witch Haggar is cunning, and there’s the matter of Prince Lotor. There will also be many commanders who will remain faithful to the Empire. But that will be problems to tackle in the future.”

 

Allura nodded in agreement. “We will have the teludav built once we’ve secured Slav,” she said.  

 

“Good. We will contact our agent in Central Command to update him,” Kolivan said. “In the meantime we will resume our activities. Should Voltron need further assistance, we will be here.”

 

The meeting was over. Keith noticed Lance, who was frowning at the plans laid out on the table. His insides did the strange flip again, but this time it was much less pronounced. Maybe Keith had developed a mild allergy to Alteans, but prolonged exposure was curing it. That was a good thing.

 

Last night’s memory resurfaced in Keith’s mind. They had both been upset over the recent turn of events, yet something about saying things out loud eased the grief in Keith’s system. He hoped the same had worked for Lance. He’d been needlessly kind; bringing Keith to the skydeck, staying by his side, and even returning him back to his room after Keith had admitted he didn’t know how to return before they parted ways.

 

Lance had laughed - the only time he had that evening - and Keith had treasured the sound. “What would you do without me, Galra boy,” he had teased, but he led him across the repetitive hallways with the ease of someone who had lived there his whole life.

 

Suddenly Lance looked up, his gaze catching Keith’s. For some reason Keith felt warmth rushing to his cheeks, and reflexively he found himself avoiding from Lance’s direction. His palms felt unusually sweaty. Impatient to brush off the feeling, Keith walked away from the meeting table. Probably his allergy was getting worse. He settled near the consoles, looking up at the expanse of the galaxy. But it didn’t help - if anything, it reminded him more of the skydeck. Keith felt like his whole face was on fire. Had the temperature in the Castle gone up? Maybe he needed a drink.

 

He was about to head for the kitchens and ask for one when he heard lowered voices. He perked up his ears; it was an instinct that had saved him countless times while in missions. Hushed words always provided more information.

 

“You’ve changed, Shiro,” Keith heard the Princess say. At that Keith blanched; he didn’t want to eavesdrop on a private conversation, especially involving Shiro. He respected him too much. But Shiro was already answering before Keith could slip off. 

 

“The Black Lion - they showed me things,” Shiro replied, his voice equally soft. “Like they were opening up to me. I know they’ve shared a bond with Zarkon once, but they trust me too. And they chose me, Princess.”

 

Keith could hear the smile in Princess Allura’s tone. “I’m glad,” she said. “You are truly the paladin of the Black Lion now.”

 

“I’ve got a long way to go,” Shiro said. “But I won’t let Zarkon continue his reign anymore. We’ll end this now.”

 

“Indeed.” At this Keith moved to walk away, feeling guilty at having heard, yet at the same time proud that Shiro had deepened his bond with his Lion. He’d always had faith in Shiro, no matter what.

 

Unfortunately Keith was only several steps away when someone blocked his path. He looked up and stiffened when he saw it was Princess Allura.

 

She looked carefully at him. “Keith,” she said. The Princess had never addressed him directly before. Had she noticed him eavesdropping? But that was barely ten ticks, and Keith hadn’t even meant to. Surely she would let that pass.  

 

“Yes, Princess?” he said nervously.

 

Her gaze was no less intense than it had been the last time. Keith felt like he was being analyzed from head-to-toe. “I am sorry for your loss,” she said finally. “The Blade of Marmora are our valued allies. You have helped us, time and time again. And you have even personally assisted in Shiro’s quest for his Earthling crew. I cannot thank you enough for your service.”

 

Keith nodded, surprised by her commendation. He hadn’t expected this at all. A warm feeling engulfed him; similar to how he would feel when Kolivan praised his piloting skills or when he managed to best Antok in one-on-one match.

 

“However,” she said, her tone suddenly razor sharp, “I still withhold my approval.”

 

Keith blinked. 

 

The Princess gave him a grin that felt more threatening than anything else, and then walked on. Keith was left to gape at her in confusion. What was that about?

 

“Keith,” Shiro said, breaking him away from his thoughts. “Are you alright?”

 

Keith glanced at the Princess’ retreating back. “Sort of,” he said.

 

Shiro’s eyes were full of sadness. “I’m really sorry about Ulaz, Keith,” he said, with such open regret. 

 

Keith’s chest clenched, the sadness slamming back at him in waves. “It’s fine, Shiro,” he said. “He did the right thing.”

 

“He did,” Shiro said, his hand a comforting weight on Keith’s shoulder. “That’s why we can still keep the fight going. But you should take time to feel the loss, Keith. You can’t bottle this up.”

 

Keith nodded. His heart felt too heavy.

 

“I know Ulaz has never shared the rest of the Blade’s caution,” Shiro continued. “He has always chosen to trust his instincts. You’ve learned that from him.”

 

Keith raised his head at that.

 

“So I know you’ll do the right thing too,” Shiro said quietly. He put his hand on Keith’s shoulder, fingers digging deep into the bone. “Remember, I’m always at your side.” 

 

Before Keith could ask him to explain what he meant by that, Kolivan and Antok walked over.

 

“It is time we head back,” Kolivan said to Shiro. He glanced at Keith, who stepped to his side. “We’ve checked the status of Zarkon’s main fleet - they’re still in the same location. It seems you have stopped him from whatever it is he’s doing to track your Lion.”

 

Shiro nodded. “May you have a safe flight back to the headquarters,” he said. Kolivan and Antok nodded back at him. Shiro hugged Keith quickly, and soon they were back to the ship. With Ulaz gone, the three of them had to share the remaining one. 

 

Kolivan was quiet throughout the flight. Keith took control of the ship instead of Antok. They always piloted back to the base manually, in the event someone intercepted their coordinates. “This incident will likely bring up more suspicion on Zarkon’s part,” he said eventually. “He may be distracted with the Black Lion now, but Haggar would have recognized the technology that Ulaz used to get rid of the Robeast.”

 

“So Thace is in danger,” Keith said.

 

Beside him, Antok shook his head. “Thace has always been in danger,” he said gruffly. “He has always known that. And so have we.”

 

Keith bit his lip and said nothing else.

 

“This event has likely compromised us,” Kolivan continued. “We will move forward with our contingency plans now. Voltron has their mission. But so does the Blade of Marmora.” 

 

Keith risked a glance at their commander. Kolivan had put the mask back on. “If the time comes, we cannot hesitate.”

 

Ulaz’s sacrifice rose up again in Keith’s mind. He turned back to the console, staring at the black expanse of space in front of him. They were fighting a war, after all. He had always known the stakes. 

 

The loss of Ulaz was hard on the Blade of Marmora. He was one of their head researchers, and his current work with the quintessence was left unfinished. Most Galra were inclined to combat; very few showed interest in theoretical fields. Ulaz also had been doing work with the Druids prior; the lost knowledge was incalculable.

 

“He’s left some notes,” Antok said with distaste as they went over his sparse belongings. “I believe he’s channeled some of the data to the Alteans, but likely not all of it.”

 

Keith shrugged. “Shouldn’t we just give that all to them?”

 

Antok leveled him with a look. “Keith, they may be our allies, but you cannot fully trust them,” he said, his voice firm. Keith opened his mouth to protest, but Antok shook his head. “We work together for now to end the war,” he said. “But who says what happens after that? Alteans are known for mercy, but the rest of the galaxy is not so quick to forget. There may be pressure to cut ties with all Galra, regardless of their contributions.”

 

Keith was startled at the venom on Antok’s tone. “Do you really think they’d do something like that?” 

 

Antok shrugged. “You are young, Keith,” he said. “You have not seen the world as it is. There are many political complications. You saw the Princess Allura. She would not have budged at us were it not for a personal sacrifice.

 

There was no arguing with that. Keith gazed downward at the pack of clothes Ulaz had left, and put it away with the rest of the non-essentials. 

 

Other Blade of Marmora members took up Ulaz’s work. Quintessence provided countless possibilities, but it was highly unstable and prone to metastasizing. “It’s a very dangerous material, even in its finished form,” one of the Blades commented. “I’m surprised Zarkon is willing to use it.”

 

Kolivan shook his head. “Surely he only experiments on others,” he said sarcastically. “A tyrant like him is only after power, uncaring of what he loses in the process.”

 

Meanwhile Keith had returned to his usual missions of freeing Galra prison camps throughout the Galaxy. From what little he heard, most of the Galra were unbothered - or perhaps unaware - of the return of Voltron. Zarkon wasn’t ringing any alarms, it seemed. He supposed Zarkon didn’t really consider them a threat, which Kolivan had noted would be a useful weakness to exploit. Zarkon heavily overestimated his abilities. Keith wondered if he had faith that he could regain the Black Lion. The thought left a bad taste in his tongue. 

 

Perhaps it was also because the prison camps the Blade was targeting were the faraway ones, usually with only one or two warships sent to colonize. There would only be several actual Galra crew on board; most were sentries, which were effective in controlling the weakened prisoners. And the threat of a warship that could level the planet would keep most species in line.

 

Keith hoped grimly that when the time came for Zarkon to call back his army, it would be in pieces. 

 

He landed his ship on the planet Rhor without any detection. The planet had been one of Altea’s allies, and most of the original inhabitants had been safely evacuated to another planetoid to take refuge in. Now Galra just used it as a prison containment facility.

 

The warship loomed over the large building, docked ominously by the craggs. Keith slipped inside from the hull entrance, familiar with the sentry rotation by now. Zarkon was too confident in thinking Galra would never betray him, providing access simply to coded DNA. Keith had never stopped to question this blind loyalty to Zarkon from the Galra. He wondered if he’d grown up amongst them, if he had never been part of the Blade or met Shiro, if he would also unquestionably follow Zarkon’s every order. 

 

He had already incapacitated two guards and snuck inside the control room to plug the virus when alarms sounded. 

 

Keith scaled up the walls, popping open a vent to hide. How could they have detected him so fast? He hadn’t even had the chance to input the virus in their system. Tension thrummed in Keith’s veins as several Galra officers came storming into the control room.

 

“We’ve been breached!” the head officer shouted, looking at the unconscious guards. “How is this possible?”

 

“Commander, stay on focus: the prisoners are rioting!” an officer reported. At this Keith perked his ears.

 

“They’ve disarmed our wardens and they’re trying to storm the ship,” another added.

 

“Those alien scum think they can defy us?” the commander thundered. “Ready the cannon. I’ll teach those prisoners to know where they belong.” 

 

The alarms kept ringing. Keith peeked through the vents; there were four Galra in total. Keith could reasonably take down three, but the fourth would be a bit tricky. Still, Keith didn’t have time to worry about the odds. If he didn’t act fast, the Galra could pulverize the prisoners with the cannon. 

 

He slammed his arm down the vent and jumped down from it, blade drawn and ready. He slashed at the two officers at once, flinging one at the wall with a satisfying crunch. One down.

 

“The intruder!” one of them shouted. The Galra on his left started firing at him. Keith rolled to avoid getting hit, flicking his blade at the Galra’s arm to make him drop the weapon.

 

The Galra commander slammed at him, claws out. Keith hissed at the scratch on his shoulder, elbowing him to escape their clutches. He swiped to grab his blade on the floor, as well as the fallen gun. Keith shot the commander coming at him multiple times, who flinched at each shot. Keith ducked as he felt another Galra jump at him from the side.

 

He shot that Galra point-blank, pulling the trigger so fast that his hands jerked from the motion. Keith dropped the smoking weapon on the fallen Galra. He looked up to see the two remaining officers pounce on him. Keith went down with a yell, slashing his blade.

 

He was shocked when one of the Galra was pulled off him. Four aliens had come bursting into the room, each heavily armed. The Galra commander snarled, swiping at them, but he was no match for four attackers, even if he was strong. Keith picked up his blade and headed for the control deck, keying in the virus.

 

“Hold up.” Keith felt a weapon pressed against his neck. “Drop your sword.”

 

Keith did as he was told.

 

“I don’t like this,” one of them said. “Who is this guy?”

 

“He was attacking the Galra when we arrived though,” another reasoned. “So maybe he’s not a bad guy.”

 

“Who’s to say that? He’s not from our side,” a different voice piped in. “And look at him...those are Galra colors. We don’t know what he is.”

 

Keith was tense. He didn’t want to take hurt anyone, but at the same time he couldn’t reveal information about the Blade of Marmora. They weren’t going to get anything from him. He looked down without moving his head to his blade, which they hadn’t even thought to take away from the ground. Obviously these weren’t experienced hostage-takers. Keith supposed he could leverage that.

 

“Turn around,” the first voice barked, and Keith complied, taking his first proper look at the four aliens. He stopped at the sight of the one of the farthest right. The alien’s face looked far too familiar, behind the hulking gray armor. “Pidge?” he said, in surprise.

 

The alien blinked at him. “What?”

 

His face was human, Keith realized. Behind the oversized armor, the alien had entirely human features. He glanced at their hands - five appendages, but covered in gloves. He could not ascertain if it were truly a human being or - his skin crawled - some kind of Galra experiment from the arena.

 

The motley crew of aliens glared at him. “You know him, Chip?”

 

Chip shook his head. “No,” he said. “Anyway, we’re asking the questions here, buddy-”

 

But even his way of speaking was reminiscent of Pidge’s. Keith wracked his brain for the name of the brother. Recent events had pushed that information out of his mind. “Matt Holt?” Keith blurted out. The alien tensed.

 

“What in Ziggurat’s hell is a Matt Holt?” a tripedal alien commented, raising whatever constituted as an eyebrow on their face.

 

Chip stared at him suspiciously. “Who are you?”

 

Keith was at a loss. He had no idea how to make this alien trust him. He wasn’t even sure if he  _ was  _ Matt Holt but...the resemblance was uncanny. He had to trust his gut.

 

He powered down his mask, to the aliens’ exclamations.

 

“What the quiznak-”

 

“He looks like you, Chip!”

 

“I thought you said you were the only one of your kind out here,” the tripedal said.

 

“I thought so, too,” Chip said grimly. “Can you give me a second with this guy?”

 

The aliens looked at him, and then at the Galra bodies littered on the ground.

 

The huge, rock-like alien, who currently had his weapon pointed at Keith’s chest, narrowed his eyes. “We’ll stay by the hall. Shout if you need us,” he said. He’d been the voice ordering him around earlier. Keith guessed he was the de facto leader. Slowly the three other aliens filed out, leaving Keith alone with Chip. 

 

Chip bent down and took the blade, holding it up at against Keith’s chin. “Start talking.”

 

Keith put his palm on the flat of the blade. “I know your family,” he said bluntly. “Pidge - and your father, Sam Holt.”

 

“Who the hell is Pidge,” Chip demanded, though his grip shook at the mention of his father’s name. “I don’t - ”

 

Keith paused, wondering how he would describe Pidge. “They’re small, but they look a lot like you. Brown hair and brown eyes. They wear these round clear things in front of their face -”

 

“Okay, so I have some weird doppelganger out there,” Chip muttered. “Great. The universe needs to throw me a fucking bone for all the shit it’s dragged me through.”

 

Keith released a frustrated breath. This was not how he expected this to go. “They’re not - look, I already got your father back to them! They’re your family - they’ve been looking for you all this time.” He gestured to his shoulder. “They’re about this tall,” he added. “I thought humans ran on the short side - but I guess they’re not the usual height.”

 

Chip stared at him, lowering the blade. Then slowly, he said, “Katie’s in space?”

 

The name sounded familiar. “I think I’ve heard Shiro call them that too,” Keith said. 

 

Chip’s face went even paler. “Shiro?” he said, eyes wide. “He’s - he’s alive,” he said, eyes starting to fill with tears. “I thought -” he raised one hand to his mouth.

 

Keith averted his eyes, startled by the sudden emotion. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “We rescued him from a Galra ship almost two years ago. Now he’s the leader of Voltron.”

 

Chip raised his head. “Voltron? But that’s just a fairytale!” he exclaimed, eyebrows furrowed.

 

“It’s real,” Keith told him flatly. “We’re working with them to liberate the universe from Zarkon.”

 

“Five lions combining together to make one giant robot? Sounds like a Sunday cartoon to me,” Chip muttered. “Anyway - who are you? More important,  _ what _ are you? Because you look human,” he added. “But that mask and -” he gestured at the suit. “And we saw you taking those Galra officers down - that didn’t look like any human fighting I know. In fact, that fighting style was straight up Galra techniques. I’ve seen that in the gladiator matches.”

 

“I  _ am _ Galra,” Keith said, and he didn’t miss the way Chip’s eyes narrowed. Like Shiro, he had suffered under their hands. But Keith was not going to deny his heritage. “I was born on Earth, though, so I’m likely part-human. My parentage isn’t fully confirmed.”

 

“The Galra are on Earth?” Chip demanded. “Is that why Katie -”

 

“No,” Keith reassured him quickly. “We went there on a mission and...well, they just followed us up to space.”

 

Chip’s mouth quirked. “That sounds like her.”

 

“They went up here to look up for you and your father,” Keith said. He remembered the paper he had folded away in his pocket, and took it out. “Pidge told me to show this to you if I find you.”

 

Chip took the paper. For the second time, he looked overwhelmed with feeling. His hands shook as he held the paper with the impression of four human figures.

 

“Is Katie and my dad safe?” Chip asked, folding the paper away and tucking it in a pocket.

 

“They’re with the Voltron paladins in the Castle of Lions,” Keith said. “It’s the safest place I can think of from Zarkon’s grasp.”

 

“The Castle of Lions?” Chip raised an eyebrow. 

 

“The main Altean warship,” Keith clarified.

 

“Huh,” Chip said. “They told me Altea’s gone - completely wiped out by Zarkon.”

 

Keith folded his arms. “Well, they’re wrong. Who are those aliens you’re with, anyway?”

 

“Jihan - the big guy, he’s one of the prisoners I was with when we got sent to a Galra camp,” Chip said. “We’d both been injured from the gladiator matches, and one-sided matches aren’t amusing for Galra. But we could still be made to do manual labor, so there we go.” Chip laughed humorlessly. “My dad and some other aliens didn’t make the cut for that, so they got sent elsewhere. Galra aren’t so big on mercy, huh? Surprised they didn’t just kill us already.”

 

Keith was quiet. He was familiar with the Galra Empire’s form of cruelty and torture for colonized planets and prisoners. They segregated their prisoners to what they were best suited for, whether it be entertainment to food production. That left them to focus on what they preferred the most - subjugating the rest of the galaxy. 

 

“Luckily, the planet we got stuck in started their own rebellion,” Chip continued. “We helped them take those bastards out. I stayed there for a couple of months, but there wasn’t much to do, honestly, and Jihan wanted to get back home. He also had this wild idea of helping other prison camps break free. Pay it forward, you know? The other two, we met them in Kythra, and they wanted to play freedom fighter throughout the galaxy. Me, I just wanted out. I mean, I kind of wanted to go home too,” Chip admitted, “but Earth’s on a different planetary system entirely. Not even sure if space travelers pass by that direction. Don’t think I can hitchhike all the way there by myself.”

 

“You could come with me,” Keith said. “I’ll bring you to your family, and after this war is over, you can go back home.”

 

Something in Chip’s expression twisted. “That sounds good,” he said. “I’d like that...but.”

 

Keith waited. “But?”

 

Chip exhaled. “But this war is real, you know?” he said quietly. “I mean I could leave and forget about it but...who’s going to believe me? What’s waiting for me back on Earth? We haven’t even achieved interplanetary travel there,” he said. “And the threat of Galra...it’s always going to be here. I can’t go home knowing it’s not safe, that some alien invasion could happen any day. So I have to stay.”

 

Keith couldn’t resist the way his lips curved upward. “You sound just like Shiro,” he said.

 

“The strong and brave Takashi Shirogane?” Chip laughed. “Who would have thought.”

 

“I’ll do my part,” he said. “You’re doing yours, too, aren’t you? Are you part of some Galra resistance?”

 

Keith shrugged. “Something like that.” He gestured to the control panel. “I stuck a virus on this warship. Even if more Galra come back, they won’t be able to control this.”

 

Chip paused, moving to inspect it. “Interesting,” he mused. “Is it okay if I try to replicate it? This can be helpful for us.”

 

Keith hesitated. Usually after putting it in the system, he would destroy the mainframe and get out. It was possible someone could get their hands on their virus code, but to just give it out… “You can try if you want,” Keith said. “It’s encrypted in Galra language.”

 

Chip shrugged. “More work for me then.” He picked it and slipped it in the same pocket he had put the paper earlier. 

 

“Anyway...here.” He held out the blade, and Keith took it back. “I didn’t get your name, by the way.”

 

“It’s Keith,” he said.

 

“Keith,” Chip said slowly. “Okay, Keith. I’ll help out Jihan with his stuff, and then I’ll see if I can join Katie and my dad. The Castle of Lions, right?”

 

“Yeah,” Keith said. He took out his communicator, opening it to his private messaging channel with Shiro. “Do you want to send a message to them?” he asked. “Shiro - he asked me to find you. Wouldn’t want him to think I just let you go.”

 

Chip laughed. “A commanding officer to the end, huh?” he teased. “Does this take voice messages?” Keith nodded, pressing the button for Chip.

 

“Hey, Mr. Pilot,” Chip started softly. “Matt here, over. I’m doing okay. Your Galra buddy found me. I’m just finishing some stuff here, and then I’ll find you. Heard you’re some hotshot hero now. Well, I’ll give you a run for your money when we meet again.”

 

His tone grew more somber. “Take care of Dad and Katie for me, okay? And don’t worry about me. You don’t need to protect me anymore. Plus I still have to thank you for last time. So until then. Over.” He glanced up at Keith, who pressed the button to end the message.

 

“All right,” Chip said, nodding almost to himself. “Let’s get out of here. And Keith - I don’t think you should let my alien pals know you’re Galra,” he added. “I’m not too keen on those jerks, but the angry history goes way back for them. They’re not going to like you at all if they find out.”

 

“They don’t need to like me,” Keith said. “I’m just doing my duty.”

 

Chip raised his hands. “Suit yourself,” he said. “But if I were you, I’d steer clear. You helped us take these guys out. I prefer we keep it civil.”

 

They headed back to the hallway to Chip’s companions. The floor was littered with broken Galra sentries. “Seems it’s all clear here,” Keith commented.

 

Jihan shrugged. “We got rid of all the sentries on our way in,” he said. “How’d  _ you  _ get inside, anyway?”

 

Keith mirrored his shrug. “It’s all in the timing. I can’t exactly bust in guns blazing if all I have is this.” He gestured to his blade.

 

“Good point.” He held out his hand, and Keith shook it. “Who are you, anyway?”

 

“He’s a freedom fighter, like us,” Chip cut in. “Though he’s working with the Alteans.”

 

“The Alteans?” the tripedal alien’s eyes were wide. “But...they’re gone, aren’t they? I mean...how else could have Zarkon taken over…” 

 

“The Alteans are still fighting this war,” Keith reassured her. “Princess Allura has taken over King Alfor to lead them in battle.”

 

The alien didn’t look at all amused. “They weren’t able to answer our distress signal when our planet got taken,” she said. “They’re supposed to be protecting us. That’s what they get for working with Galra.”

 

“I’m going to need a history lesson on this,” Chip said, tilting his head. “Space politics confuse me.”

 

Keith couldn’t exactly say he knew much, either. Regardless of the Blade of Marmora’s mantra of  _ knowledge or death,  _ the majority of the Blade was notoriously tight-lipped. That was where the death part kicked in. They’d rather die than share what they knew. And it was up to Keith to risk bodily harm to learn what he could.

 

“Altea has always been the biggest advocate of peace throughout the galaxy,” Jihan said gruffly. “They went on diplomatic missions to many planets to form an intergalactic coalition, spearheaded by King Alfor. The Galra, of course, accepted their extended olive branch initially. There were news of five planets joining together to become the head of this peace - to protect and defend the universe. The Galra was one of them. Of course, no one knew they were planning to betray everyone and take over. They started on smaller planets, ones out of reach from the protection the coalition extended. And when they were finally confronted about it, they lost no time pulling the curtain down. Turns out they’ve been preparing for it for quite some time. The whole thing went crumbling down.”

 

Keith wondered how long that lasted. “What about Voltron?”

 

“Voltron, huh?” Jihan snorted. “That’s supposedly the strongest weapon in the universe, some kind of magic bullshit old midwives tell us as babes. The arrival of the Voltron lions is different each time I hear it. Came from another star system, just fell from the cosmos, was built by Altean engineers...either way, the pilots came from all over the galaxy. It was the true sign of peace. They even say that Galra used to be one of the pilots...maybe that’s why it’s gone now.” He laughed, shaking his head. “Either way, it’s not real, and we can’t depend on it - and neither on Altea.” He threw a glance at Keith. “Sorry, friend, but they weren’t there when the Galra took over my planet and threw me in a prison camp, nor were they there when we busted out in Kythra. And they definitely haven’t been there in the last two places we’ve gone.” He set his jaw. “You got us people on the ground doing what we can. Don’t see the great planet Altea swooping in to the save the day.”

 

Keith wasn’t going to argue with that. “You’re right,” he said, to Jihan’s obvious surprise at his agreement. “We should all do what we can. We can’t rely on Altea to save the whole galaxy from Zarkon. But they’re also doing what they can. And if plans go right, Zarkon won’t be the galaxy’s problem any time soon.”

 

Jihan snorted again. “I’ll believe it when I see it, buddy.”

 

Keith felt his communicator beep in his hidden pocket. “I have to get going,” he said. “If you need help, you can call on the Castle of Lions any time. We could use help in coordinating with other guys like you.” He nodded at Chip, and rattled off the universal frequency for hailing the Altean warship.

 

“All right,” Chip said. “You take care, Keith. Let’s see each other again, yeah?”

 

Keith nodded again, taking a careful look at the all the aliens. The other two still looked skeptical, but Jihan seemed thoughtful. Keith headed out of the warship, taking a leisurely pace. Only when he knew he was out of their eyesight that he burst into a faster sprint.

 

It was, admittedly, better than his other interactions with aliens he encountered in the prison camps. Possibly because he never lowered his mask, but most of them would see his suit and fall quiet. One had even spat at him even as he pulled them out. “Galra scum,” they had hissed, and Keith had not argued. He had only lowered them to the ground along with the other escaped prisoners. 

 

He was no stranger to their dislike. Often he preferred to keep silent during missions. It led to less complications.

 

Now, the more he learned, the more he felt worried. He wished it was just as easy as being a soldier following orders. But the Blade of Marmora was right.  _ Knowledge or death. _ If he didn’t keep himself informed, he was going to get himself killed.

 

He got back into his ship, and took out the communicator. It was not, as he expected, a message from Shiro, but rather from Kolivan.

  
_ Get back,  _ it said.  _ They’ve recovered Slav. The plan will be implemented in five quintents.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And finally, Matt! I had an idea on how I wanted him to fit in the story pre-s4, and while I loved his whole rebel backstory (and him giving Pidge the nickname!!) I decided on (some slight) canon divergence for this one. The galaxy is far and wide, after all, and there's a lot to be done! Also some more complicated things for Keith to think about (aside from Prince Lance and his allergy) :D :D :D 
> 
> Hopefully I can update for the penultimate chapter next week before s5 airs (and josses way more of this fic lmao)!! I'm so, so happy I was able to stick to this until the end. And thank you everyone for liking/commenting on this fic, I really appreciate it! I often don't know how to reply to comments bc it's like...I have so many ideas and I don't want them to be spoilers but ahhh I love and read every single comment!


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